Balraj Panwar finished third in the men’s single scull event at the Asia and Oceania World Olympic and Paralympic Qualifiers to secure a quota for the Paris Olympics.
Balraj Panwar on Sunday became the first Indian rower to secure a quota for the 2024 Paris Olympics after finishing third in the men’s single scull event of the 2024 Asia and Oceania World Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta in Chungju , in South Korea. The 25-year-old Indian Army rower, who narrowly missed out on the bronze medal in his maiden appearance at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China last year, clocked 7:01.27 minutes to finishing third in the 2000m and sealing his quota.
In the men’s single scull, the top five qualify for the Olympic Games.
In the men’s lightweight double sculls, which India participated in at the last Tokyo Olympics, the country failed to qualify.
In an event where the top two get the quota, the Indian duo of Ujjwal Kumar and Arvind Singh finished third.
India will thus have a solitary rowing entry in the quadrennial spectacle scheduled for July 26.
Arjun Lal and Arvind Singh represented the country in men’s lightweight double sculls at the Tokyo Olympics and returned with an 11th place finish.
The Asian qualifiers were held simultaneously with the Asian Rowing Cup, where India won a gold medal thanks to the duo of Salman Khan and Nitin Deol in the men’s double sculls event.
A day after their feat, Panwar, who hails from Karnal in Haryana, put up a dominant show after a slow start.
In the opening stage of the 500m, Panwar was third behind eventual gold medalist Vladislav Yakovlev of Kazakhstan and Hin Chun Chiu of Hong Kong.
But Panwar used his power to surge ahead and take the lead, crossing the halfway mark (1000m) with a time of 3:25.51.
He maintained his lead until the penultimate section of the 1500m, which he completed in 5:12.67, three seconds ahead of his rival from Hong Kong.
But Yakovlev made a superb comeback on the final lap and took first place with a time of 6:59.46 seconds.
Indonesian Memo Memo also finished in 7 minutes to overtake Panwar and take second place.
With PTI inputs
