Asian Games, canoe sprint: Arjun, Sunil bag historic bronze medal
India claimed the bronze medal in the canoe sprint competitions at the 2023 Asian Games on Tuesday. The Indian duo of Arjun Singh and Sunil Singh Salam finished third in the men's double 1000m at the Fuyang Water Sports Centre. This is a historic medal for India in canoe sprint at the Continental Games. Arjun and Sunil finished behind Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Here's more.
Brilliant effort from Arjun Singh and Sunil Singh Salam
The two young Indians, Arjun and Sunil gave their best and clocked a timing of 3:53.329. They trailed behind gold medallists Uzbekistan, who finished with a timing of 3:43.796. Kazakhstan bagged the silver medal clocking 3:49.991. The Indian duo started brilliantly and was in first place at the opening 250m mark. But the Uzbek and Kazakh duos went ahead at the midway stage.
Second Asiad medal for India at the same event
This is India's second Asian Games medal at the men's canoe double 1000m. However, they claimed a medal in canoe sprint after 29 years. The Indian duo of Johnny Rommel and Siji Kumar Sadanan also won bronze at the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games.
A dream-come-true moment: Arjun Singh
Sunil, who finished sixth in the 2018 Asiad, has redeemed himself with this bronze medal. "In 2018, we could've won a medal but things went haywire after my partner got sick on the day of the competition," he stated. "Now, it's second time lucky for me." "It's a dream come true for me, and we are only the second medallist," Arjun added.
Sunil is more experienced; Arjun learning the ropes
Sunil, 24, is the more experienced paddler of the two and has participated in C-2 1000m and C-1 2000m at the World Championships in 2019 and 2023 and has also featured in World Cups. Besides, this was only the second international event for teenager Arjun. He participated in this year's World Championships in Duisburg, Germany, where he finished ninth overall in Men's C-2 1000m.
