Asian Canoe Sprint Olympic Qualifier 2024: Arjun Singh and Sunil Singh Salam make it to the final of Men’s C2 500m on Day 1

It was a day filled with mixed emotions for the Indian contingent at the Asian Canoe Sprint Olympic Qualifier 2024. Asian Bronze medalists Arjun Singh and Sunil Singh Salam qualified for the final of the Men’s C2 500m event.

They had participated in the very first race of the event. The duo was in the seventh lane and crossed the finish line in 1:59.724 minutes, with Sergey Yemelyanov and Timur Khaidarov of Kazakhstan taking the top spot in the event. Artur Guliev and Vladien Denisov from Uzbekistan came second in the race. The final C2 500m is scheduled for Friday, April 19.

Naocha Singh Laitonjam made it to the semi-final of the Men’s K1 200m event. He finished in sixth place in the third race of the day. In the semi-final, Laitonjam finished in fourth position and failed to make it to the final.

The eighth race of the day was for the K2 Men’s 500m event. The Indian duo of Rimson Mairembam and Harshwardhan Singh Shaktawat finished in fifth place among six teams and qualified for the semi-finals. In the semi-final, the duo came fourth and missed on a well-deserved final berth. The difference between the third team and the Indian duo was of a mere 0.185 seconds.

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India has never participated in an Olympic canoe event

The Women’s C1, C2, and K2 events are scheduled to take place on Friday, April 19. All the teams will have the opportunity to make it to the final.

Arjun and Sunil will also compete in the final of the C2 Men's 500m event. They are among the nine teams which will compete in this event. It will be the 15th race of the day.

It will be a golden opportunity for the duo to become the first-ever pair to qualify for the Paris Olympics 2024. India has never competed in the Olympic canoe event. However, Kirti Kewat did participate in the Girls’ Obstacle Slalom and head-to-head events in the Youth Olympics 2024.

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