Balraj Panwar secured India’s first rowing quota for the 2024 Paris Olympics at the 2024 World Asian and Oceanian Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regetta in Chunju, South Korea on Sunday.
The 25-year-old rower finished third in the men’s singles scull event with a time of 7:01.27 minutes in the 2000m race to qualify for the quadrennial event. In this event, the top five finishers qualify for Paris 2024.
In the men's lightweight double sculls event, Ujjwal Kumar and Arvind Singh finished third, but missed out on a quota. The top two finishers in this event were eligible to qualify for the Olympics.
The lightweight double sculls race was the only event that India had qualified for in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where Arvind Singh along with Arjun Jat finished in 11th place, after reaching the semi-finals.
The Asian Qualifiers were held simultaneously with the Asian Rowing Cup where India won a gold medal in the men’s double scull event through the pair of Salman Khan and Nitin Deol.
The Indian rowers will have a final chance to secure qualification for Paris 2024 next month at the Final Qualification Tournament scheduled from May 19 to 21 in Lucerne, Switzerland.