Shila, Jewel disappoint

SA Games gold medallist Mahfuza Khatun Shila put up a dismal performance in the FINA 17th World Championships as she became 41st among 52 participants in her pet event of 50m breaststroke in Budapest, Hungary yesterday.

Shila, who had set a new SA Games record in the same event with a timing of 34.88 seconds last year, finished yesterday's event with a timing of 36.53 seconds, which is 1.65 seconds more than her SA Games record.

Shila also took part in 50m freestyle where she finished 74th among 87 swimmers. She even finished behind Nepal's Sofia Shah and Aminath Shojan with a time of 30.73 seconds. The Bangladeshi swimmer participated in the freestyle event for the first time since the 2004 national swimming championship.

Jewel Ahmed, too, frustrated with a sorry performance in backstroke. Jewel, who finished 45th out of 46 in 100m backstroke, ended as 46th among 55 swimmers in 50m backstroke by clocking 28.50 seconds, some 3.33 seconds more than Indonesian Sudaar Tawa, who qualified for the 16-man semifinals as the last swimmer.