Incheon: Indian rowers qualified for the final round in the men's eight event after they finished second in the heats on the second day of competitions at the Asian Games here on Sunday.
The Indian team, which included Bajrang Lal Takhar, Robin Ulahannan, Ranjit Singh, Sawan Kumar, Mohammad Azad and Maninder Singh, clocked 5:53.58 to cover the distance of 2000m behind the Chinese team (5:46.01).
The Indians were third midway into the race but recovered later on to finish second. All the five teams in the heat qualified for the final round to be held on September 25.
In men's doubles sculls heats, Om Prakash and Baban Bhokanal Dattu finished third, clocking 6:41.67. They will now contest in the repechage round on Tuesday as only the heat winning team makes it to the finals.
Sawarn Singh will also compete in the repechage round of the men's singles sculls heats after he finished second in his heat Sunday, clocking 1:48.51.
In lightweight men's quadruple sculls heats, the Indian quartet of Rakesh Raliya, Vikram Singh, Laxmi Narain Sonu, Shokendar Tomar finished fourth and last with a timing of 6:20.09. They will still contest in the repechage round.
In women's quadruple sculls heats also, the Indian quartet of Amanjot Kaur, Sanjukta Dung Dung, Narengbam Lakshmi Devi and Navneet Kaur ended fifth and last, clocking 7:26.50 over the 200m distance. They also will still compete in the repechage round.
