Indian rower Balraj Panwar has issued a call for strengthening rowing infrastructure in the country and increasing junior level competitions to improve performance in future events. This comes after his 23rd place finish in the men’s singles skulls event at the Paris Olympics.
The sole Indian rower at the Paris Games, Panwar reached the quarterfinals through repechage, but ultimately finished fifth with a time of 7:05:10. This placed him in the semifinals (Group C/D) for a finish between positions 13-24. He eventually competed in the Final D race for positions 19-24.
“We must strengthen the infrastructure for rowing, train more athletes at the junior level and have more competitions at that level, only then we will be able to do well,” Panwar told PTI at the India House. “We need to have about 3-4 clubs at the international level and increase competitions at the junior level,” the Indian Army man added.
Despite his 23rd place finish, Panwar expressed satisfaction with his performance, stating that the experience will serve him well in the future. “I have got a great experience from this Olympics. In our nationals (events) we get three races till the final but I got five races here and I have done well in each one of them. This has been a very good experience for me which I can use in the future competitions,” he said.
He also highlighted his commitment to the sport. “I started rowing in 2020 and since then I have worked very hard. I have competed in the Asian Games and the Olympics and in the future I will do better in terms of performance for India,” Panwar added.
Panwar acknowledged that he had hoped to reach the semifinal stage but was ultimately happy with his performance, highlighting the challenging nature of the competition. “I had said earlier that I would make the semifinals at least but I could not. But the timings here have been my best so far so I am satisfied with my performance,” he said. “Some competitions are tougher compared to the others and the 23rd position which I achieved here is very good I reckon,” Panwar added.
