NEW DELHI: Indian rowers secured two bronze medals on the final day of the Asian Games, finishing their campaign with a total of five medals, surpassing their previous edition's count of three. Despite their strong performance, the Indian rowing squad was unable to clinch a gold medal, which they had achieved five years ago.
India achieved a fifth-place finish overall, improving from their sixth-place finish in the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, where they won one gold and two bronze medals.
China, the host nation, topped the medal tally with 11 gold medals and two silver medals, while Uzbekistan secured the second position with two gold medals, four silver medals, and one bronze medal.
The day began with the men's fours team, comprising Jaswinder Singh, Bheem Singh, Punit Kumar, and Ashish Goliyan, narrowly missing a silver medal.
They competed in the men's fours event, where they initially held the fourth position but exhibited remarkable coordination to secure a bronze medal with a time of 6:10.81 seconds, narrowly trailing China (6:10.04). Uzbekistan claimed the gold with a time of 6:04.96.
In the men's quadruple sculls, the team of Satnam Singh, Parminder Singh, Jakar Khan, and Sukhmeet Singh secured a bronze medal with a time of 6:08.61 seconds, finishing behind Uzbekistan (6:04.64) and gold medalists China (6:02.65). The Indian quartet made a significant improvement from fourth place in the final 500 meters of the 2000-meter race.
Indian rower Balraj Panwar, competing in the men's single sculls, narrowly missed securing a maiden Asian Games podium finish, ending in fourth place with a time of 7:08.79 seconds.
He was less than nine seconds behind the bronze medalist, Hin Chun Chiu from Hong Kong, who finished with a time of 7:00.55. China's Liang Zang claimed the gold, while Japan's Ryuta Arakawa took the silver.
Unfortunately, the Indian women's eight team disappointed, finishing last in the five-team field with a time of 7:05.71 seconds in the women's eight event. China secured the gold medal with a time of 6:33.61 seconds, while the Indian team was unable to pose a significant challenge to their opponents, even trailing fourth-placed Thailand by more than 15 seconds.
(With PTI inputs)
