Satnam, Salman claim historic bronze in men’s double sculls at Asian Games

Satnam Singh and Salman Khan won India's maiden Asian Games medal in men's double sculls, claiming bronze in Nagoya. Their achievement provided a bright spot for an Indian rowing team that endured one of its poorest continental Games campaigns

Nagoya: Satnam Singh and Salman Khan’s men’s double sculls bronze turned out to be the saving grace as the embattled Indian rowing team produced one of its worst performances in Asian Games history here on Thursday.

The duo’s bronze was India’s first-ever men’s double sculls medal at the continental Games.

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Rowing was introduced at the Asian Games in 1982. India won its highest medal tally in the sport at the 2010 Guangzhou and 2023 Hangzhou editions.

India won five medals in 2010, including one gold, three silver and one bronze. The tally remained the same in 2023, but there was no gold, with the rowers winning two silver and three bronze medals.

The 2018 Games yielded three podium finishes, including one gold.

India’s performance in this edition equalled its tally from the 1982, 1994 and 2002 editions.

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 gold in 6:09.37, while Uzbekistan’s Pavel Sorin and Mekhrojbek Mamatkulov claimed silver in 6:10.49.

The Indian duo finished 3.88 seconds behind the gold medallists.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the duo after their bronze-winning performance at the Games.

“A fine performance by Satnam Singh and Salman Khan in the Men’s Double Sculls, earning India a well-deserved Bronze medal. Their composure and coordination stood out. May this achievement inspire them to scale even greater heights in the years ahead,” the Prime Minister posted on X.

Satnam, who had won a bronze at the Hangzhou edition in the men’s quadruple sculls, added another Asian Games medal to his collection.

“I feel very proud because India had never won an Asian Games medal in the men’s double sculls, and now I have been part of winning that first medal,” Satnam said after the event.

On the controversy surrounding the rowing team, he said, “I am sad about what happened with my partner (old partner). We had a chance for a better medal, but the decision has already been made and cannot be changed now.”

“We only came together in the men’s double sculls five days ago. I feel proud that, after only five days together, we have managed to win an Asian Games medal in this event,” he added.

There was disquiet among the rowers two days before the start of competitions on Wednesday, with some claiming they had been shifted from the events they were originally entered in and that reserves had been included in the first team.

The changes were made after a meeting of the team managers of different participating countries on Monday.

Another rower said players who had either been dropped or shifted to other events were “very disturbed” and had not taken food after the development earlier in the day.

The controversy appeared to have died down as the rowers competed on the first day of events on Wednesday, but a few players said they were contemplating making a representation to the Sports Minister.

Even as rowing competitions began on Wednesday, at least two rowers said some players were considering making a complaint to the Sports Minister once the contingent returned to India.

Rowing Federation of India (RFI) president Balaji Maradapa, meanwhile, accused a former coach of “influencing” the athletes. He also said the changes in crew members were made in the interest of the team by the coaches after the duration of the rowing competition was compressed from four days to two due to weather disruptions caused by Typhoon Dujuan.

Earlier, India narrowly missed another rowing medal when Balraj Panwar finished fourth in the men’s single sculls final in 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 gold in 6:38.98, while Panwar finished 15.82 seconds behind the winner.

The lightweight men’s double sculls duo of Rohit and Ujjwal Kumar Singh also finished fourth, while the men’s quadruple sculls team ended fifth.

India’s last Asian Games medal in the men’s single sculls came at the 2014 Incheon Games, when Sawarn Singh won bronze.

Bajrang Lal Thakkar remains the only Indian to win gold in the event, claiming the historic title at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.

In the women’s four final, India’s Gurbani Kaur, Aleena Anto, Tendenthoi Devi Haobijam and Poonam finished sixth in 6:55.32, 20.45 seconds behind gold medallists China. Uzbekistan won silver in 6:38.05, while Vietnam took bronze in 6:43.86.

In the lightweight men’s single sculls Final B, Ajay Tyagi topped the 7-12 classification race in 7:01.54.

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 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.