Stories
Indian Rowers "Helpless" Over Last-Minute Crew Changes at Asian Games, Plan Ministry Complaint
- •Some Indian men's rowing team members are considering complaining to the Sports Ministry about last-minute crew changes at the 2026 Asian Games.
- •Athletes expressed unhappiness, stating changes were made too close to events, affecting synchronization and performance.
- •The controversy involves India's 17 male rowers, with some planning to file a complaint after returning to India.
- •Rowing Federation of India president Balaji Maradapa defended the changes, citing weather disruptions from Typhoon Dujuan reduced the schedule from four to two days.
- •Maradapa stated new combinations were decided at a managers' meeting with experts, and accused an unnamed former coach of influencing young rowers.
Key Questions Answered
Some members of India's men's rowing team felt helpless and considered filing a complaint because last-minute changes to their crew combinations affected their performance and synchronisation. The alterations forced athletes to compete with different partners just before events started.
Rowing Federation of India president Balaji Maradapa explained that weather disruptions caused by Typhoon Dujuan and heavy rain forced the competition schedule to be reduced from four days to two. Because events were compressed into two days, it was impossible for the same rowers to compete repeatedly, leading to new combinations decided at a managers' meeting.
The controversy affected 17 male rowers in the contingent, including Arvind Singh being moved from single sculls to quadruple sculls and Balraj Panwar shifting to single sculls. Additionally, Saurav Kumar and Vipul Satish made way for Nitin Kumar and Jaswinder Singh in the men's pair.
