Balraj Panwar has secured India’s first quota in rowing for the Paris Olympics. The 25-year-old Indian Army rower accomplished this feat by clinching the third position in the men’s single scull event at the 2024 World Asian and Oceanian Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta held in Chungju, South Korea on Sunday.

Panwar, who narrowly missed out on a bronze medal in his debut appearance at the Asian Games in China last year, demonstrated his prowess by completing the 2000m race in a commendable time of 7 minutes and 1.27 seconds, thereby sealing the Olympic quota.

In the men’s single scull category, the top five contenders secure berths for the Olympics. Meanwhile, in the men’s lightweight double sculls, where India had participated in the previous Olympics in Tokyo, the nation failed to secure a spot. The Indian duo of Ujjwal Kumar and Arvind Singh finished third in the event, falling short of the top two positions required for Olympic qualification.

Consequently, India will be represented by a solitary entry in rowing at the upcoming quadrennial extravaganza slated to commence on July 26. Notably, Arjun Lal and Arvind Singh had represented the country in the men’s lightweight double sculls at the Tokyo Olympics, finishing in 11th place.

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The Asian Qualifiers were held simultaneously with the Asian Rowing Cup where India won a gold medal courtesy of the duo of Salman Khan and Nitin Deol in the men’s double scull event.

A day after their achievement, Panwar, who hails from Karnal in Haryana, put up a dominant show after a slow start.

In the first 500m leg, Panwar was lying third behind eventual gold medallist Vladislav Yakovlev of Kazakhstan and Hong Kong’s Hin Chun Chiu.

But Panwar used his power to race ahead and grab the lead, passing the halfway mark (1000m) with a timing of 3:25.51.

He held on to his lead till the penultimate stretch of 1500m, which he crossed with a timing of 5:12.67, three seconds ahead of his Hong Kong rival.

But Yakovlev produced a superb recovery in the final lap and took the top spot with a timing of 6:59.46 seconds.

Indonesia’s Memo Memo also finished within 7 minutes to get past Panwar and take the second spot.