India Rowing squad for Asian Games 2022: Squad, team news, performance before Hangzhou

Ever since its introducion at the New Delhi Asian Games in 1982, India has won 23 medals, including two gold, in rowing.

FILE PHOTO: Gold medalist Indian rowing team members Sawarn Singh, Bhokanal Dattu, Om Prakash and Sukhmeet Singh pose for photo. | Photo Credit: PTI

Rowing is a form of boat racing, competed either individually or in teams of upto eight. The sport made its Asian Games debut in 1982 in New Delhi.

The most typical types are sweep or sweep-oar rowing. This is when each rower has one oar, held with both hands. This form of racing involves another team member who steers the boat. They are called coxswain. A race which includes a coxswain is called a coxed race whereas the one without is known as coxless.

The other form of race is known as sculling where each rower has two oars, one in each hand. The major difference between the two is that sculling is done by teams of only upto four.

Ever since it was first brought into the Asiad, China has maintained a dominance in rowing. It has won 98 medals, 92 of which have been gold. The next best nation, Japan, has a haul of 56 medals.

India too has enjoyed success in the competition. In the 1982 New Delhi Games, the team of Pravin Uberoi, Deependra Tomar and Mohammad Amin Naik kicked off India’s tally with a bronze in Coxed Pairs.

The nation’s total haul of 23 medals includes two gold, five silver and 16 bronze. The first gold was won by Bajrang Lal Takhar in 2010 in the Single Sculls, and the second came in the last edition of the Asian Games when Dattu Bhokanal, Sawarn Singh, Om Prakash and Sukhmeet Singh clinched the top place in Quadruple Sculls.

In 2023, India is sending a 33-membr contingent and will hope to improve on its medal tally of three from five years ago.

ROWING - SQUAD

MEN

Balraj Panwar (Single Scull), Satnam Singh (Double Scull and Quadruple Scull), Parminder Singh (Double Scull and Quadruple Scull), Jakar Khan (Quadruple Scull), Sukhmeet Singh (Quadruple Scull), Arvind Singh (Light Weight Double Scull), Arjun Lal Jat (Light Weight Double Scull), Babu Lal Yadav (Coxless Pair), Lekh Ram (Coxless Pair), Jaswinder Singh (Coxless Four and Coxed Eight), Bheem Singh (Coxless Four and Coxed Eight), Punit Kumar (Coxless Four and Coxed Eight), Ashish (Coxless Four and Coxed Eight), Neeraj (Coxed Eight), Naresh Kalwaniya (Coxed Eight), Neetesh Kumar (Coxed Eight), Charanjeet Singh (Coxed Eight), D U Pande (Coxed Eight), Ashish Goliyan (Substitute, Sweep), Kulwinder Singh (Substitute, Sculls).

WOMEN

Kiran (Light Weight Double Scull), Anshika Bharti (Light Weight Double Scull), Aswathi P B (Coxless Four and Coxed Eight), Mrunamayee Nilesh S (Coxless Four and Coxed Eight), Thangjam Priya Devi (Coxless Four and Coxed Eight), Rukmani (Coxless Four and Coxed Eight), Sonali Swain (Coxed Eight), Ritu Kaudi (Coxed Eight), Varsha K B (Coxed Eight), H Tendenthoi Devi (Coxed Eight), G Geetanjali (Coxed Eight), Rose Mestica Meril A (Substitute), Archa Aji (Substitute).