Dattu Bhokanal, Sawarn Singh dropped from India team for rowing Olympic qualifiers
India have named a new-look team for the Asian Olympic qualifying regatta in Tokyo.
India will go in with a new-look side for the Asian and Oceania Continental Olympic Qualification Regatta to be held in Tokyo from May 5 to 7. There will be no Dattu Bhokanal and Sawarn Singh.
The nine-member Indian team comprises Jakar Khan (single sculls), Arjun Lal Jat (double sculls), Arvind Singh (double sculls), Sunil Attri (single and double sculls) and Shantanu Kumar (para) in the men’s half.
Khushpreet Kaur (single sculls), Vindhya Sankat (double sculls), Rukmani Dangi(double sculls), and Sona Keer (single and double sculls) will compete in the women’s events. Ismail Baig is the chief coach.
The team management has dropped the rowers who came good at the 2018 Asian Games, an event where Indian rowing managed a gold and two bronze medals.
Missing out on the Asian qualifiers due to various reasons are Dattu Bhokanal — a Rio 2016 Olympian — and Sawarn Singh, a two-time Asian Games medal winner and an Olympian from the 2012 London Games.
While Dattu Bhokanal has been reprimanded for indiscipline, Sawarn Singh has been dropped for his below-par performance at the camp.
This will be the Indian rowing team’s first competition since the 2019 Asian championship in Chungju, South Korea.
The Indian rowing team has been training at the Army Rowing Node (ARN) in Pune over the past few months with the federation setting up a bio-bubble for the squad.
With powerhouse China yet to qualify for the Tokyo Games, the Asian event is set to be a tough test for the Indians.
“We are trying for qualification in both the men’s and women’s sections. It is going to be a tough event in Tokyo but I am hoping the Indians can do well,” coach Ismail Baig told Sportsview.
If the Indians fail to qualify for Tokyo 2020 at the Asian meet, they will have a final chance to make the cut at the Final Qualification Regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland from May 16-18.