CWG 2026: Srihari Natraj advances to 50 m backstroke semifinal
Glasgow, July 24
Olympian and Asian Championship swimmer Srihari Natraj made it to the semifinals of the 50 m backstroke competition at the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2026 on Friday.
Srihari finished fifth in the heats of the 50 m backstroke competition with timings of 25.52 seconds. The Indian swimmer, as per ESPN, was a part of heat four (a total of five heats) and despite being placed 14th overall, his timing was good enough to help him secure the semifinal spot.
His CWG qualification mark was 25.39, and the fastest heat time was 24.45 by South Africa's Pietr Coetze, as per ESPN.
The semifinals will take place at 12:30 AM at midnight on Friday.
India kicked off its Commonwealth Games campaign in Glasgow on Thursday, with a 124-member contingent aiming to make the most of a drastically reduced competition programme. The programme for CWG 2026 features 10 core sports and six para-sports. A lot of sports which have enriched India's medal count over the years, such as wrestling, hockey, cricket, badminton, table tennis etc are missing from the programme, dealing a massive blow to India's medal count.
Indian able-bodied athletes will compete across eight disciplines, including athletics, boxing, weightlifting, judo, artistic gymnastics, track cycling, bowls and swimming. Meanwhile, India's para-athletes will compete across five disciplines, including para-athletics, 3x3 wheelchair basketball, para-powerlifting, para-swimming and para-track cycling.
India's Pinki Singh and Rupa Rani Tirkey began their Commonwealth Games 2026 campaign with a hard-fought victory in the women's pairs event, while Putul Sonowal stunned reigning world champion Ryan Bester of Canada in the men's singles competition in lawn bowls at the Scottish Event Campus on Thursday, according to Olympics.com.
CWG 2026 is being held from July 23 to August 2 in Glasgow, with India fielding a contingent of more than 120 athletes across eight able-bodied and five para sports as it looks to add to its rich legacy at the multi-sport event.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Honestly, swimming is not our strongest suit but Srihari is making good strides. The real heroes here are Putul Sonowal beating the reigning world champion in lawn bowls! That's some achievement! And Pinki and Rupa in women's pairs too. Grassroots sports are finally showing results. Semifinal at midnight? I'll stay up to cheer! 🌙
Happy for Srihari but let's be realistic - 14th overall and 25.52 is far from medal contention. The fastest heat was 24.45. That's more than a second gap which in swimming is massive. Good experience though for future competitions. India needs to invest more in swimming infrastructure if we want real breakthroughs.
The fact that India can still produce excitement despite being reduced to just 10 core sports is a testament to our athletes. No hockey, cricket, badminton? Yet our swimmers, lawn bowlers are stepping up. Srihari needs to drop at least 0.5 sec to make the final. Come on champ, you can do it! 💪
Rooting for Srihari! It's not easy competing against swimmers from countries with much better facilities. The 124-member contingent is impressive. Also lovely to see the para-athletes getting equal representation - 3x3 wheelchair basketball sounds exciting! Hope our lawn bowls team continues their magic run. 🤞
Does anyone else feel frustrated that they removed wrestling and badminton? Those are our medal banks! But credit to the athletes who are competing in the available sports anyway. Srihari
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