Rowing: India
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Asian Rowing Championships
2021
Dec 11, 2021: The Times of India
BANGKOK: Indian rowers Arjun Lal Jat and Ravi won the gold medal in the men's double sculls event while Parminder Singh bagged a silver in the men's single sculls competition at the Asian Rowing Championships.
Arjun and Ravi edged past Chinese duo of Qing Li and Lutong Zhang and Uzbekistan's Davrjon Davronov and Abdullo Mukhammadiev for the gold medal at the Royal Thai Navy Rowing Center in Rayong.
Tokyo Olympian Arjun and his partner Ravi completed the race in 6:57.883s while the Chinese duo clocked 7:02.374s. The Uzbeks finished with a timing of 7:07.734s.
This is India's second straight podium finish in the men's doubles sculls event at the continental event, having won a bronze at the 2019 Asian Rowing Championship.
Arjun had earlier clinched a silver in the men's lightweight double sculls event at the previous continental meet.
Adding to India's celebrations, Parminder later won a silver medal when he clocked 8:07.323s, while the gold winner from Uzbekistan Kholmurzaev Shakhboz was 11 seconds faster at 7:56.307s.
Indonesia's Memo finished third with 8:10.055s.
The Indian rowers will be in contention for more medals when they compete in the finals of five more events.
Dattu Bhokanal
2020: ban lifted
RFI lifts Asian Games gold medallist rower Bhokanal’s ban:
Rower Dattu Bhokanal’s two-year suspension on charges of tanking a race during the 2018 Asian Games was lifted by the national federation (RFI) after the intervention of the Indian Olympic Association President Narinder Batra. Bhokanal was a member of the Indian quartet that won a gold in the men’s quadruple sculls event in the Asian Games but later left the single sculls race midway. He was banned by the RFI (Rowing Federation of India) in March last year.
YEAR-WISE DEVELOPMENTS
2018
Asian Dragon Boat Championship/ Silver
Pratyush Raj, July 7, 2018: The Times of India
Zirakpur girl Prabhjot Kaur led the Indian women's team to a silver and a bronze in the ongoing 5th Asian Dragon Boat Championship, which is being held in Yunan province of China, on Saturday. India also won a bronze in the mixed team event.
While winning the silver in the 500 metre race, the Indian girls managed to stave off competition from powerhouse teams like China, Hong Kong and Malaysia. Singapore won the gold in the event.
The women also won a bronze in the 200m race, while the mixed team added another bronze in the 500m race.
Interestingly, despite their medal-winning performances in the Asian championship, the Indian dragon boat team won't be participating in the upcoming Asian Games in Jakarta. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has meted out the same treatment to dragon boat as they have done to football and rugby. IOA has striked out dragon boat from the list of games that India would be participating in during the marquee event.
"It was a team effort and I am very happy that we won two medals. We could have won gold, but the quality of our boats are very bad. We lost the gold to Singapore by a fraction of seconds," Prabhjot told TOI from Dali, the city where the championship is being held.
"It is really sad that despite winning so many medals, we won't be able to take part in the upcoming Asian Games. This is the same competition that we would have faced in the Asian Games and look we defeated them. The IOA dropped dragon boat citing our inability to win medals. Even for football, the IOA authorities said that we can't send ‘also rans' and that is the same explanation they had for our sport.
"We were up for the Asian Games; but sadly, now we won't be able to participate. I have no words," Kaur added.
Prashant Kushwaha, the secretary general of Indian Kayaking and Canoeing Association (IKCA), also hit out at the IOA.
"The IOA officials told us that it is not possible for our team to win a medal at the Asian Games. But, now we have won multiple medals at the Asian championship. This is our riposte to IOA officials," Kushwaha said. "We are going to protest against IOA's decision on Monday. These medals are perfect examples that prove that we are no pushovers."
The Indian mixed team won the bronze in 500 metre event. There were four oarsmen from Sonipat, Haryana in the team. They were Manjeet Singh, Bijender Singh, Sachin Kumar and Ravinder.
Bijender was also dejected with IOA's decision. He said, "I desperately wanted to participate in the Asian Games. I wanted to beat China, as one of their paddlers taunted us by saying that we can never win against them."
"I train at the Karna Lake in Karnal, and there are more than 50 children who train under me. Do you think they will take the sport seriously now? It (IOA dropping dragon boat) is a huge setback for the sport in India," he added.
Prabhjot also highlighted government's apathy towards water sports. She was hopeful that the medals would help improve the infrastructure of water sports in India.
"I don't want to demean our country; but if you will look at the boats, equipment and the kind of training sessions that the players from China, Singapore and Malaysia get, we stand nowhere near them. Despite the lack of support from the Union government, we won medals. I hope these medals would help improve infrastructure related to water sports in India in the coming years," she said.
