– by Pratyusha Mukherjee, Aichi-Nagoya, Japan
Indian rowers Satnam Singh and Salman Khan secured a bronze medal in the men’s double sculls, while Balraj Panwar finished fourth in the men’s single sculls final at the Asian Games.
India added another rowing medal to its Asian Games campaign as Satnam Singh and Salman Khan clinched bronze in the men’s double sculls at the Nagaragawa International Regatta Course on Thursday.
The Indian duo clocked 6:13.25 to finish third in the final. China’s Xudi Yi and Yide Nie won gold with a time of 6:09.77, while Uzbekistan’s Pavel Sorin and Mekhrojbek Mamatkulov took silver in 6:10.49.
India’s pair stayed within medal contention throughout the race. At the 1,000-metre halfway mark, they were third behind China and Uzbekistan. With 500 metres remaining, Satnam and Salman moved into second place but were overtaken in the closing stages, eventually crossing the finish line in third.
The bronze marked Satnam Singh’s second Asian Games medal. He had previously won bronze as part of India’s men’s quadruple sculls team at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games.
For Salman Khan, the medal adds another milestone to his rowing career. The rower from Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi district was inducted into the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), gaining access to elite training and sports-science support. He later won a medal at the Asian Rowing Cup and was promoted to the rank of Naib Subedar in the Indian Army.
Earlier, Balraj Panwar narrowly missed the podium in the men’s single sculls final, finishing fourth in 6:54.80.
Panwar was in the silver-medal position at the halfway stage, behind China’s Zhiwei Deng. However, Uzbekistan’s Shakhboz Kholmurzaev moved ahead of the Indian with 500 metres remaining, leaving Panwar outside the medal positions.
Deng won gold in 6:38.98, Kholmurzaev took silver in 6:41.83, and Japan’s Tatsuya Sakurama claimed bronze in 6:46.78.
India’s performances in the rowing finals thus produced a bronze medal through Satnam Singh and Salman Khan, while Panwar came within one place of the podium in the men’s single sculls.
