Tokyo Olympics: Indian rowers Arvind Singh and Arjun Lal progress to double sculls semis

Indian rowing pair, Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh on Sunday qualified for the semi-finals of the Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls at the Tokyo Olympics. The country’s only rowing pair at the Olympics, the duo finished third in the repechage race with a timing of 6:51.36 to mark their advancement to the semis. The duo had earlier finished fifth in the men's lightweight double sculls heats.

Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh advance to semis

The Indian rowing pair revived their Olympics journey after clinching a spot in the semi-finals. The Indian team finished at the time of 6:51.36 to come in third place at the Sea Forest Waterway, adding to a medal chance for India at Tokyo Olympics. Meanwhile, Poland's Jerzy Kowalski and Artur Mikolajczewski finished at the top with timing of 6:43.44, followed closely by Spain's Caetano Horta Pombo and Manel Balastegui in second with a time of 6:45.71 in the repechage 2. 

Earlier on Saturday, Arvind Singh and Arjun Lal Jat had finish fifth in the men's lightweight double sculls heat. Competing in heat 2, the duo finished with a timing of 6:40.33 in the six-team field, failing to qualify. The top two teams in the heats, Ireland (6:23.74) and Czech Republic (6:28.10), had advanced directly to the semifinals while Poland (6:31.85), Ukraine (6:36.05), and Uruguay (6:42.85) moved to the repechage round alongside the Indian rowing team.

However, the team has managed to turn it around as the repechage round allows boats a second chance to qualify for the rounds of quarter-finals, semi-finals, or finals. During the repechage round, Arjun assumed the role of the bower while Arvind became the stroker. Trailing till the 1500m mark, the duo sped up in the 500m to clinch the fifth position in the round. The double sculls semi-finals will be held on July 27.

A bit about lightweight double sculls

The event includes teams of two rowers in a sculling boat using two oars each. The cross-section boats are designed as long, narrow and broadly semi-circular in order to help reduce the drag. The maximum weight set for each male competitor in the event is 72.5 kg while the maximum individual weight for the female rowers is 59 kg. Meanwhile, the average weight of the men’s team cannot exceed 70 kg, while it cannot be more than 57kg for the women’s team.

IMAGE: PTI