Maana Patel becomes India’s first female swimmer to qualify for Tokyo Olympics

New Delhi: Backstroke swimmer Maana Patel from India became the first female to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics on Friday under universality quota, confirmed Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju.

She became the third Indian swimmer to qualify for Tokyo Olympics 2021.

Sports Minister Rijiju took to his official twitter account to congratulate her and wrote “Backstroke swimmer Maana Patel has become the 1st female and 3rd Indian swimmer to qualify for #Tokyo2020. I congratulate Maana, who qualified through Universality Quota. Well done!!”

Backstroke swimmer Maana Patel has become the 1st female and 3rd Indian swimmer to qualify for #Tokyo2020. I congratulate Maana, who qualified through Universality Quota. Well done!! pic.twitter.com/LBHup0F7RK

— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) July 2, 2021

Maana Patel and Srihari Nataraj were nominated for the universality slots. Srihari, however, achieved the Olympic Qualification Time (OQT) to secure a direct place at Tokyo 2020.

She suffered from ankle injuries towards the end of the 2019 season but the 21-year-old Maana was on a comeback trail when competitions resumed earlier this year.