PUNE: Balraj Panwar displayed his growing prowess in the single scull by outclassing the field and taking the gold in the National rowing championships at the College of Military Engineering course on Thursday.
Army man Panwar, who had finished a creditable fourth at the Asian Games in Hangzhou last year in what was his maiden appearance in the event, clocked 7 minutes 18.7 seconds to finish ahead of Services' Salman Khan (7:22.5) and federation representative Navdeep Singh (7:25.9). Local favourite Olympian Dattu Bhokanal finished a distant fourth in 7:32.3 in the 2,000m race.