New Delhi: Indian rower Balraj Panwar enjoyed a field day during the repechage round as he qualified for the quarter-finals of men’s singles sculls at the Paris Olympics 2024 on Sunday, July 28. Known as ‘MS Dhoni of Indian rowing’ for serving in the Indian Army like the former Indian cricket captain and having a calm cool temper like him, Balraj finished second in the repechage round to book a spot in the quarter-finals.
Balraj finished second in the repechage race with a timing of 7:12.41s, only behind Monaco’s Quentin Antonelli, who won the repechage race with a timing of 7:10.00s. Balraj was on top of his game right from the start of the repechage contest and also managed to gain the lead for a while before dropping to second again. He took the second spot right from the start and maintained his position to make it to the quarter-finals.
Earlier, Balraj had finished fourth during his heat on Saturday where the rowers who grabbed the top three spots, secured automatic qualification in the quarter-finals. Balraj got a second chance along with others in the repechage round and made the most of the opportunity to gain entry into the quarter-finals.
The only rower to have qualified for the Paris Olympics 2024, Balraj is interestingly described as ‘MS Dhoni of Indian rowing’ on the official website of the Olympics. However, the Indian rower believes he is yet to achieve anything significant to be compared to someone of the stature of Dhoni.
“He is such a big athlete; how can I be compared with him? My name can be taken alongside his only when I achieve something big. Maybe if I win a medal then it would be fine,” Balraj told ESPN.
Rower Balraj Panwar qualified for the quarter-finals of the men’s single sculls at the Paris Olympics 2024 after finishing 2nd in the repechage round on Sunday. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
