Salman-Satnam take podium despite last-minute change

Nagoya: Kismat (destiny) is how Salman Khan termed the bronze medal he won alongside Satnam Singh in the men’s double sculls at the Asian Games on Thursday.The philosophical take only makes sense when the context is fully understood.The rowers, who made the Asiad cut, arrived in Nagoya after months of rigorous training for their respective events. However, earlier this week, the team management reshuffled the 17 male rowers from the events they were originally scheduled to compete in. The decision not only took the Indians by surprise but also left them in complete despair.Asian Games 2026 | No mercy: India hammer South Korea 8-2 in men’s hockey In Salman and Satnam’s case, the duo were originally set to compete in the quadruple sculls, an event involving four rowers. Instead, they were told to team up for the double sculls. But even the last-minute change couldn’t stop Army’s Salman and Navy’s Satnam from stepping onto the podium.In their own words, they were destined to win India’s first-ever double sculls Asiad medal at the Nagaragawa International Regatta Course. But as destiny would have it, their bronze turned out to be the country’s only rowing medal at this edition of the Asian Games – the worst rowing performance since 2002 for India.“The hardest part was that we were removed from the quad and placed into doubles,” Salman said.“We were depressed. We didn’t eat, drink or sleep that night. We were harassed. We had no recovery. The next day, we woke up and felt that what matters most is the country and the flag, and we have to keep it high. Whatever happens later will happen.”Satnam, who won a bronze at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, added: “The situation we faced two days ago was unexpected. If we had been paired four months ago, then we could have been fighting for gold.“I’m feeling proud because we have never won a medal in double sculls. But I feel sad for my partners in the quadruple sculls because a gold medal has gone from our hands. I can’t say anything more about the decisions made because they have already been made.”China’s Yi Xudi and Nie Yide won the gold in 6:09.37, while Uzbekistan’s Pavel Sorin and Mekhrojbek Mamatkulov took silver in 6:10.49.The four-day rowing competition was originally scheduled to begin on September 20 but was postponed because of Typhoon Dujuan and subsequently compressed into a two-day event. The Indian management cited the disruption to the schedule as the reason for switching the crews.“We hope that whatever happened to us should never happen to any other rower. We cannot imagine what Balraj Panwar and Jakar Khan (team-mates in the original quad squad) are going through. We felt we could have won gold in the quad, but that didn’t happen,” Salman said, referring to the reshuffled quadruple sculls team of Arvind Singh, Kulwinder Singh, Navdeep Singh and Jakar Khan, which finished fifth.

Source: Deccan Herald