“That was such a close finish” - Fans hail Balraj Panwar as he becomes first Indian rower to qualify for quarter-finals in Olympics
Indian rower Balraj Panwar, hailing from Haryana, scripted history as he became the first Indian to qualify for the quarter-finals in the Olympic Games in rowing. He finished off the men’s singles sculls at the second spot in the repechage round.
Notably, the top two finishers from the repechage round move to the quarter-finals. Balraj started the race on an exciting note, settling for the second spot at 500m, clocking 1:44.13 seconds.
Halfway through the race, Balraj Panwar continued his steady performance, finishing second, clocking 3:33.94 seconds at the 1000m mark. He continued his domination at 1500m, staying at the second position, clocking 5:23.22 seconds.
“What a thrilling repechage round for Balraj Panwar in rowing!! Shame he couldn't maintain his lasy second lead and finsihed 2nd but still good enough to qualify for the next round!,” a user wrote.
“That was such a close finish, Wow, Balraj Panwar,” another fan wrote.
“That was some crazy acceleration from Balraj Panwar. He would have finished 1st but qualified for QF in men's sculls rowing,” an X user was in awe.
“Balraj Panwar you beauty,” a fan took to X to hail the rower.
“Never followed #Rowing but Balraj Panwar! Extremely unexpected!,” another X user wrote.
“@balraj_rowing Balraj Panwar🇮🇳 qualified for quarterfinals What a performance 💯 First Indian to qualify for #Rowing ever in history It means a lot for country,” a proud Indian wrote on X.
Balraj Panwar will compete in the quarter-final on July 30
The last quarter was an edge-of-a-seat thriller as Balraj Panwar moved past Quentin Antognelli from Monaco to stay at the top position for a brief period. However, Quentin was quick enough to surpass Balraj to end the sculls on top.
Balraj finished second, clocking 7:12.41 seconds. Quarters are scheduled to take place on Tuesday, July 30.
Earlier on Saturday, Balraj Panwar advanced to the repechage round after finishing fourth in Heat 1 of the men’s singles sculls competition. He clocked 7:07.11 seconds to finish off behind New Zealand’s Thomas Mackintosh (6:55.92), Stefanos Ntouskos (7:01.79), and Abdelkhalek Elbanna (7:05.06). The top three from each heat had already qualified for quarters.