Paris Olympics 2024: Balraj Panwar finishes fourth in heats; to compete in repechage round

Indian rower Balraj Panwar finished fourth in the Men's Singles Sculls Heat 1. He completed the race in 7:07.11 seconds and missed out on securing a direct entry into the quarter-finals.

The 25-year-old Indian rower remained in the fourth position throughout the race. He crossed the 500m mark with a time of 1:43.53s. Balraj crossed the 1000m and 1500m mark in 3:31.24s and 5:20.20s, respectively.

The Indian Army athlete fell short by just over two seconds, costing him a direct spot into the quarter-finals. However, he will look to better his time in the repechage round on Sunday.

New Zealand's Thomas Mackintosh finished first with a time of 6:55.92 seconds. Stefanos Ntouskos from Greece and Abdelkhalek Elbanna from Egypt finished second and third with a timing of 7:01.79s and 7:05.06s, respectively.

Kazakhstan's Vladislav Yakovlev (7:21.56s) and Angola's Andre Matias (7:52.78s) finished fifth and sixth, respectively in Heat 1.

The top three rowers from Heat 1 earned a place in the quarter-final round of the Men's Single Sculls event. The remaining three players, including India's Balraj Panwar, will compete in the repechage round.

The Men's Single Sculls repechage round is scheduled to take place on Sunday (July 28) at 1:05 PM IST.

Fifteen rowers will compete in the Repechage round on Sunday while 18 athletes have secured qualification into the quarter-finals. The six best rowers from the repechage round will earn spots in the quarter-finals while the remaining ones will crash out of the Paris Olympics 2024.

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ROWING - Men's Singles Sculls Heats (Results)

1. Thomas Mackintosh (New Zealand) - 6:55.92s
2. Stefanos Ntouskos (Greece) - 7:01.79s
3. Abdelkhalek Elbanna (Egypt) - 7:05.06s
4. Balraj Panwar (India) - 7.07.11s
5. Vladislav Yakovlev (Kazakhstan) - 7:21.56s
6. Andre Matias (Angola) - 7:52.78s

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