Jakarta: India’s Sajan Prakash advanced to the finals of 200m butterfly at the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia on Sunday. Sajan went in to the event unaware of where his maternal family, which hails from Idukki district, was as the district has been hit by floods.
The state of Kerala has been reeling under unprecedented flood. Sajan, however, was made aware of the situation only on Saturday as his mother chose to keep the news from him.
In an interview given to Times of India after reaching the finals of 200m butterfly event, Sajan said he has no idea where his family is. “I still have no clue as to where they are and how they are, Prakash told Times of India. “All I know is that they are being taken to some safe place. I pray for their safety.”
Sajan added that he was informed about his family only after they were rescued. “It was tough but my mother, who is based in Tamil Nadu, thought it best that I don’t get disturbed in the run-up to my event. So I was told of it only after my grandmother and uncle had been shifted. I still haven’t been able to speak to them, though. I have made a historic final, but I don’t know how to tell hem yet,” Sajan added.
Prakash qualified for the final with a time of 1:58.12 seconds. He finished 0.06 seconds behind leader Nao Horomura of Japan. Meanwhile, Srihari Nataraj has also advanced to the finals of the 100m men’s backstroke. Starting in lane 6, Nataraj finished first in the heat clocking 55.86 seconds even as compatriot Arvind Mani finished second but failed to qualify to the next round. Another Indian in action, Saurabh Sangvekar crashed out in the 200m freestyle event, clocking 1:54.87 seconds.
