Nat'l Rowing Championships: Arjun, Sukhmeet enter semifinals

PUNE: Olympian Arjun Lal Jat along with international medalists Sukhmeet and Hav. Narayan qualified for the semifinals in their respective events on a hectic opening day of the 40th Senior and 24th Open Sprint National Rowing Championships2023 at the Army Rowing Node, CME on Wednesday.

In the 54-races card lined up for the day, 2022 Tokyo Olympian Arjun alongside Ajay Tyagi clocked 7 minutes 03.29 seconds to top the time charts in the Light Weight Men’s Doubles Sculls (LM2X) event.

Later it was the turn of 2018 Asian Games Quad gold medalist Sukhmeet to make it to two semifinals. In the Double Sculls (M2X) event, Sukhmeet, in the company of Jakkar Khan, clocked 7:01.30s to stand out.

Likewise, in the Quadruple Sculls (M4X), Sukhmeet powered his team which included Jakkar Arwinder and Salman to a 6:34.77s finish to make the last-4.

In the Open Double Sculls (M2X) event, the rookie pair of Parminder and Shagandeep of the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) powered to a 7:07.55s finish.

Meanwhile, 2022 Poland World Rowing Cup bronze medalist Hav. Narayana Konganapalle booked his berth in the finals of the Para Men Single Sculls (PR3M1X) event clocking an impressive 8:30.21s.

The day had 20 women and 34 men heats conducted. Earlier the championship was inaugurated by Major General Vinayak Saini, SM, Offg Commandant, CME.