Chungju [South Korea], April 21 : Balraj Panwar secured India's first Paris Olympics quota in rowing by finishing third in the men's single scull event of Asian Olympic qualifiers in Chungju, South Korea.
India's ace Single Sculler Panwar finished third in the Qualification Championships at Chungju with a time of 7:01:27 in the 2000 m race, booking a berth for himself for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The top five in men's single sculls qualify for the Olympics. India failed to qualify for the men's lightweight double sculls at the previous Olympics in Tokyo.
Despite an impressive performance by the Indian duo of Ujjwal Kumar and Arvind Singh, who came third in their event, the quota remained elusive.
Panwar's route to triumph saw him demonstrate resilience and strategic prowess on the sea. Overcoming a poor start, he stormed ahead in the second part of the race, passing his adversaries to lead the group. With a solid effort Kazakhstan's Vladislav Yakovlev took home the gold medal.
Meanwhile, mixed Double Scull Para Rowers of Narayana Konganapalle and Anita finished first in their qualification race in a time of 7:50:80 and booked their place in the 2024 Para Olympics, Paris.
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