Asian Rowing Olympic Qualifier 2024: Balraj Panwar and Arvind-Uttwal secure their spots in the final
Indian singles scull rower Balraj Panwar and lightweight doubles scull duo Arvind Singh and Uttwal Kumar secured their respective positions in the final of the Asian Rowing Olympic Qualifier 2024 on the second day of the campaign in Chungju, South Korea.
Salman Khan and Nitin Deol, meanwhile, clinched the gold medal in the Asia Cup doubles scull. The duo clocked 6:35.73 seconds in the Asia Cup final competition in Tangeum Lake alongside the Asian Rowing Olympic Qualifier 2024.
On the second day of the Olympic qualifiers, Balraj Panwar, the singles scull rower, was at his best in the semi-final as he finished second in the thrilling race. Uzbekistan's Shakhboz Kholmurzaev took the top spot.
Though Kholmurzaev started off well in the opening burst, taking an early lead, he fell behind in the second and third bursts before making a strong comeback in the final 500 meters to win the race with a time of 7:16.06 seconds.
Panwar stood close to his Uzbek opponent in the initial phase and maintained second spot throughout the race, clocking 7:16.29 seconds.
Iraq's Bakr Al-Dulaimi began the race on a poor note but made a strong comeback in the middle segment. However, he lost third spot to Thailand's Premanut Wattananusith, who qualified for the final clocking 7:16.48 seconds.
The top three boats from the two semifinals will lock horns for the five Olympic spots available in the singles scull category.
What about lightweight doubles scull in the Asian Rowing Olympic Qualifier 2024?
In the lightweight doubles scull, Olympian Arvind Singh and his partner Uttwal Kumar dominated the race, clocking 6:54.27 seconds to stay ahead of Kazakhstan's Adilet Kerimbek and Artem Matussevich, who clocked 6:57.12 seconds.
It’s important to note that the best two of the five boats from each semifinal will progress to the gold medal competition while the top two in the Asian Rowing Olympic Qualifier final will book a ticket to Paris.