The Indian rowers kept part of their promise in scooping two silver medals from the lake in the Asian Games at the International Rowing Centre, near Liuxi river, here on Thursday.
The silver medals came in the men's lightweight four and men's coxless fourevents for India, as China swept six of the seven gold medals on offer thisday, to take its gold medal haul in the current Asian Games past the 100 mark.
The silver medals came in the men's lightweight four and men's four events, as China swept six of the seven gold medals on offer this day, to take its gold medal haul in the current Asian Games past the 100 mark.
The Indian team of Lokesh Kumar, Satish Joshi, Rajesh Kumar Yadav andManjeet Singh clocked 6:13.32 in finishing second in the lightweight fours final, about three seconds behind Japan which maintained its supremacy throughout the race. In fact, the Indian team had to be more worried about keeping ahead of Hong Kong that was breathing down the neck.
Though India had not won a medal in this event, after a bronze in 1998, it was tipped to be a favourite for the silver and even push Japan hard for a possible gold, based on its current form. With rules not allowing a country to compete in more than 10 of the 14 events, host China had opted to give it a miss.
Incidentally, China had beaten Japan to the gold in 2002 when the race was last held in the Asian Games.
The Indian team finishing more than a second and a half ahead of Hong Kong (6:14.84) with a strong pull in the climax. “I felt so proud and happy,” said Lokesh Kumar, moments after the race. “This is my first Asian Games. I am delighted to win a silver medal for India,” said Manjeet Singh.
“We are using the old boats that we had acquired in 2002. They are good, but we could not get the new boats that have arrived back home. In fact, we could not train for two days here initially, as we waited for the boats. We could have definitely improved our timing with the new boats,” said National coach Ismail Baig, quite happy with the silver medals.
The coach said that it would have taken just two days to adjust to the new boats, as the specifications were quite standard. India had done very well in the last edition in Doha to have captured two silver and a bronze medal.
India was in the race for gold only over the first 500 metres in the men's fours event, as the young Chinese team that was a mere fraction of a second ahead in the first quarter, pulled hard to cinch the gold, by a 10-second margin over India.
The Indian team of Saji Thomas, Jenil Krishnan, Anil Kumar and Ranjit Singh, however, managed to keep the strong Kazakhs away from the silver.
“We gave our best, it was a tough race,” said Krishnan, the only member of the squad who was part of the team that had won the silver in the last edition in Doha.
“We fought all the way. We raced for the gold, but we are happy with the silver. With more experience and training, we can definitely get the gold,” said Saji Thomas.
“We are happy with the medals, but our goal is to go for the gold this time. Hopefully, we will achieve it tomorrow,” said coach Ismail Baig, as he suggested that Bajranglal Thakar as the best bet to clinch the honour.
There was some hope in the team of Shokendar Tomar and Sandeep Kumar, silver medalists in the last Asian Championship in the men's lightweight double sculls competition. But, the team figuring third behind China and Hong Kong after 1500 metres could not keep Japan and Thailand away any longer in the last 500 metres. India had won a bronze medal in this event in Doha.
