Satnam Singh, Salman Khan win bronze in men's double sculls at Asian Games
Rowers Satnam Singh and Salman Khan secured India's first ever men's double sculls medal at the Asian Games with a third-place finish here on Thursday,
The Indian pair stayed in second place until the 1,500m mark before slipping to third in the final 500m, clocking 6:13.25 at the Nagaragawa International Regatta Course.
China's Yi Xudi and Yide Nie won the gold medal with a timing of 6:09.37, while Uzbekistan's Pavel Sorin and Mekhrojbek Mamatkulov claimed silver after clocking 6:10.49.
The Indian duo finished 3.88 seconds behind the gold medallists.
Satnam, who had won a bronze at the Hangzhou Asian Games in the men's quadruple sculls, thus added another Asian Games medal to his collection.
Earlier, India narrowly missed out on another rowing medal when Balraj Panwar finished fourth in the men's single sculls final, clocking 6:54.80.
Panwar stayed in second place at the 500m, 1,000m and 1,500m marks but slipped to fourth in the final 500m.
China's Deng Zhiwei won the gold medal, finishing in 6:38.98, while Panwar was 15.82 seconds behind the winner.
India's last Asian Games medal in the men's single sculls came at the 2014 Incheon Games, when Sawarn Singh won a bronze.
Bajrang Lal Thakkar remains the only Indian to win gold in the event, claiming the historic title at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.
From courts to water
For 26-year-old Satnam, the journey to the Asian Games rowing podium began away from the water.
A former national-level handball player, he took up rowing around eight years ago after being inspired by Olympian Swarn Singh Virk, who won gold in the men's lightweight double sculls at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia.
Hailing from Punjab's Mansa district, Satnam quickly emerged as one of India's promising rowers.
He represented India at the 2018 Youth Olympics, finishing eighth.
He later won the men's single sculls title at the 40th Senior National Rowing Championships, becoming the first Indian Navy rower to claim the coveted event.
Satnam was also part of India's gold-winning men's quadruple sculls team at the Senior Asian Rowing Championships last year.
A first for Salman
For 28-year-old Salman, who won his maiden Asian Games medal, the rowing journey began in 2018 after he joined the Bombay Engineering Group of the Indian Army.
Coaches Satywan, Satish Siraat and Prabhat Mishra introduced him to rowing and selected him for the centre's team.
He went on to represent his battalion and compete in inter-centre championships.
Salman twice came close to giving up the sport, but his coaches encouraged him to continue. He won gold at the 2022 National Games in Gujarat and also claimed the indoor national title the same year.
He was subsequently inducted into the Army Rowing Node (ARN), where he trained under senior coach Kudrat Ali.
In 2023, Salman won gold at the Senior Nationals and the Open Sprint Nationals.
His performances earned him a place in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) programme.
