Rana, 23, had already won four gold medals and added as many on Sunday to top women´s section. Among 10 events included in women´s category, she remained medal-less only in 100 m breaststroke and finished with silver in 50 m breaststroke.[break]
Similarly, Shah bagged a gold medal in all the five events he competed including the three he won on Sunday.
On Sunday, Saila bagged gold medals in 200 m freestyle (2:44:41 minute), 100 m backstroke (1:24:49 minute), 100 m freestyle (1:14:20 minute) and 50 m freestyle (33:85 second). Rana had won gold in 200 m medley, 100 m butterfly, 50 m breaststroke and 50 m butterfly on Saturday.
Under women´s section, Sofia Shah and Jitzwelly Maharjan secured silver and bronze in 200 m butterfly while Ceila Devi Gurung and Maharjan secured second and third place in 100 m backstroke. Sofia Shah and Oshina Bharati finished second and third in 100 m freestyle. Shah also bagged silver in 50 m freestyle and Anjalee Sangbo secured bronze.
Bibhida Shah was the winner of 100 m breaststroke while Sonira Bista and Sudha Shrestha secured silver and bronze respectively.
Shreya Dhital, the winner of record 11 gold medals in women´s section during the 16th National Swimming held a couple of months earlier did not feature in the championship owing to her injuries.
"My target was to set a new national record in 50 m butterfly but failed to achieve it," said Rana who was participating in the first event of the season and expressed satisfaction towards the result. Rana also denied that she had an advantage because of Dhital´s absence. "Winning the title is not about who is competing but the timing required to complete the distance."
Likewise, Prasiddha Jung Shah, 22, won gold in 200 m individual medley clocking 2:42:54 minute to come ahead of Sirish Gurung and Govinda Karki. He secured his second medal of the day in 100 m freestyle covering the distance in 1:01:5 minutes. Prabesh Adhikari and Dilip Thapa came in the second and third places. Shah came ahead of Hui Seo and Dilip Thapa to finish 50 m freestyle in 27.29 second to win his third gold of the day. Seo and Thapa bagged second and third positions.
"I am satisfied with the result though I could not train in full swing due to shoulder injury," said Shah. He also denied that he had an advantage due to the absence of his competitor Sailesh Rana who is in Bangalore, India for training.
Sirish Gurung of Kendriya Vidhyalaya took gold in 200 m freestyle clocking 2:27:86 minute. Dilip Thapa Magar and Jayant Prakash Gurung secured second and third place. Gurung had won two gold medals on Saturday.
Pushparaj Shahi came ahead of Miran Prajapati and Jayanta Prakash Gurung in 100 m backstroke. Shahi finished the distance in 1:17:86 minute. Banin Shrestha, Prabesh Adhikari and Prakash Adhikari secured top three places in 100 m breaststroke. Shrestha clocked 1:18:69 second.
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