INCHEON: Indian rower Dushyant Chauhan’s strong bid for a gold medal on international debut was ruined by inclement weather at the 17th Asian Games here on Wednesday. In the end, he had to be content with a bronze in the men’s lightweight single sculls.
The Army rower, who hails from Haryana and belongs to the Bengal Engineering Group in Roorkie, led from the 500m till the last 200m in the 2000m race before strong northerly winds and rain put paid to his gold medal hopes as he fell behind two others and finished third by clocking 1 minute, 59.02 seconds.
Before joining the Army, Chauhan — who will turn 22 next month — used to play kabaddi and wrestling. When he joined the Army, a coach suggested that his physique and strength would make him a good rower. He is six foot and weighs 72kg. He was simply shattered and did not speak much after the event.
“I was confident of winning gold but my lane was the most affected by the strong wind. However, I am happy to win the bronze medal,” he said. Chauhan was second behind gold-medallist Lok Kwan Hai by just under two seconds in the first 500m and caught up with his rival before overtaking him in the course of the next 500m. He looked assured of a win before weather hampered his chances.
He not only lost the gold, but also the silver as the host country’s Lee Hakbeom, who was third with 500m left, also surged past the Indian rower to clinch the second spot in 1:56.19. It was the first medal of the day after a fruitless stint at the shooting range for India and the 10th bronze in the Games. Rowing Federation of India Secretary General MV Sriram also rued the loss of a gold for Chauhan. “He led for most of the race and should have won the gold,” he said.
In Guangzhou, four years ago, single sculler Bajrang Lal Takhar had created history by winning the first rowing gold after a silver in Doha in 2006.
