Asian Games 2026: Satnam-Salman cull out India’s maiden double sculls bronze

popcorn numberOneNo of medals won by Indian rowers at the ongoing Asian Games compared to five at the 2023 Hangzhou Games classDefaultSatnam Singh and Salman Khans double sculls bronze turned out to be the saving grace as the embattled Indian rowing team produced one of the worst performances in the Asian Games history here on Thursday The duos bronze was Indias firstever mens double sculls medal at the continental games However both expressed mixed feelings even after winning a historic medal given the sudden changes made to the boat combinationsRowing competitions were introduced in 1982 Asian Games and India won the most medals in 2010 Guangzhou and 2023 Hangzhou editions India had won five medals in 2010 including one gold three silver and one bronze The number remained the same in 2023 but there was no gold in the tally as the rowers logged two silver and three bronze medalsThis years performance equalled that of the 1982 1994 and 2002 editions The Indian pair stayed in second place until the 1500m mark before slipping to third in the final 500m clocking 61325 Chinas Yi Xudi and Yide Nie won the gold medal with a timing of 60937 while Uzbekistans Pavel Sorin and Mekhrojbek Mamatkulov claimed silver after clocking 61049 The Indian duo finished 388 seconds behind the gold medallists Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the duo after their bronzewinning feat at the gamesA fine performance by Satnam Singh and Salman Khan in the Mens Double Sculls earning India a welldeserved Bronze medal Their composure and coordination stood out May this achievement inspire them to scale even greater heights in the years ahead the prime minister tweeted Satnam who had won a bronze at the Hangzhou edition in the mens quadruple sculls thus added another Asian Games medal to his collectionI feel very proud because India had never won an Asian Games medal in the mens double sculls and now I have been part of winning that first medal said Satnam after the event On the controversy surrounding the rowing team he said I am sad about what happened with my partner old partner We had a chance for a better medal but the decision has already been made and cannot be changed nowWe only came together in the mens double sculls five days ago I feel proud that after only five days together we have managed to win an Asian Games medal in this event Salman also said the change of crew members in the last minute affected the performance of the rowers Had we trained together longer we would have won the gold The Chinese team did not deserve the gold Salman said Everything happened suddenly but there is no point saying all these now It was not in my handsThere was disquiet among the rowers two days before the start of competitions on Wednesday with some of them claiming that they have been shifted from the events they were originally entered and reserves have been included in the first team The changes were made after the meeting of the team managers of different participating countries on Monday The controversy seemed to have died down as the rowers competed on the first day of events on Wednesday but a few players said they were contemplating making a representation to the sports ministerRowing Federation of India RFI President Balaji Maradapa accused a former coach of influencing the athletes He added the changes in crew members were made in interest of team by coaches after the duration of rowing competition was compressed to two days from four due to weather disruptions caused by Typhoon DujuanEarlier India narrowly missed out on another medal when Balraj Panwar finished fourth in mens single sculls final clocking 65480 Panwar stayed in second place at the 500m 1000m and 1500m marks but slipped to fourth in final 500m The lightweight mens double sculls duo of Rohit and Ujjwal Kumar Singh also finished fourth with mens quadruple sculls team ending fifthIn womens four final Indias Gurbani Kaur Aleena Anto Tendenthoi Devi Haobijam and Poonam finished sixth in 65532 2045 seconds behind gold medallists China Uzbekistan 63805 won silver and Vietnam 64386 bronzeFrom courts to waterFor 26yearold Satnam the journey to Asian Games podium began away from water A former nationallevel handball player he took up rowing around eight years ago after being inspired by Olympian Swarn Singh Virk who won gold in mens lightweight double sculls at 2018 Asian Games Hailing from Punjabs Mansa district Satnam quickly emerged as one of Indias promising rowersHe represented India at 2018 Youth Olympics finishing eighth He later won mens single sculls title at 40th Senior National Rowing Championships Satnam was also part of Indias goldwinning mens quadruple sculls team at Senior Asian Rowing Championships last yearA first for SalmanFor 28yearold Salman who won his maiden Asian Games medal the rowing journey began in 2018 after he joined the Bombay Engineering Group of Indian Army Coaches Satywan Satish Siraat and Prabhat Mishra introduced him to rowing and selected him for centres teamSalman twice came close to giving up the sport but his coaches encouraged him to continue He won gold at 2022 National Games in Gujarat He was subsequently inducted into the Army Rowing Node where he trained under senior coach Kudrat Ali In 2023 Salman won gold at Senior Nationals and Open Sprint NationalsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever