When he sat on a Concept2 rowing ergometer at the Army Rowing Node in Pune on Tuesday night, Parminder Singh did not think it would turn out to be one of India’s most memorable days in the sport.
After a little over six minutes (6:06.9s, a national record), the 21-year-old from Yamuna Nagar in Haryana realised that he had finished sixth in the under-23 2000m event at the World indoor rowing championships held virtually this time.
“Actually, I wasn’t even expecting a top 10, I was expecting between 12 to 15,” Parminder told The Hindu from Pune, where Indian rowers are training for next year’s Asian Games, on Wednesday evening.
“It’s the first time an Indian had finished sixth in the indoor Worlds. I see great potential in him. We knew that he was extremely good but we didn’t know that he was so good,” said M.V. Sriram, the secretary general of the Rowing Federation of India, from Chennai.
Another Indian, Mehul Krishnani Anand, finished 12th in the same under-23 event. There was more joy for Parminder on Wednesday. “My sister Avinash Kaur finished 15th in the under-19 500m today,” said the youngster, the son of Olympian Inderpal Singh.
