New Delhi. Indian players continue to perform brilliantly in the Asian Games 2026. The pair of Satnam Singh and Salman Khan won the bronze medal for India in the men's double sculls rowing match in Nagoya on Thursday. The Indian pair recorded a timing of 6 minutes 13.25 seconds at the Nagaragawa International Regatta course. In the match, both rowers performed strongly from the beginning and remained in a strong medal position for a long time.
Satnam Singh and Salman Khan were running second till 1500 metres. However, their pace slowed down a bit in the last 500 meters and the Indian pair reached third place. Despite this, both of them maintained their position and added another medal to India's account. China's pair of Yi Shudi and Yide Ni won the gold medal with a timing of 6 minutes 9.37 seconds. Uzbekistan's pair of Pavel Sorin and Mekhrozbek Mamatkulov won silver with a timing of 6 minutes 10.49 seconds.
With this medal, Satnam Singh has won a medal in rowing for the second consecutive time in the Asian Games. Earlier, he had won the bronze medal in the men's quadruple sculls event at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. Now his pairing with Salman Khan in double sculls has given India another medal.
The rowing career of Salman Khan, a resident of Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, started in the year 2018. He joined the Bombay Engineer Group of the Indian Army. His coaches recognized his potential and made him a part of the rowing team. In the initial phase he won medals in battalion and inter center competitions. There came a time when Salman thought of leaving the game but the confidence of the coaches inspired him to move forward. Later he got a chance to train at the Army Rowing Node.
In the year 2023, Salman was included in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme. After winning gold in the 2024 Asian Rowing Cup, he got promotion to the post of Naib Subedar in the Indian Army.
Whereas Satnam Singh of Patta Maluka village of Mansa district of Punjab had played handball at the national level before rowing. In 2018, he took up rowing on the advice of Olympian Swaran Singh Virk. After this he quickly gained recognition. Satnam has represented India in the 2018 Youth Olympics and has also won the title in the Senior National Rowing Championship.
India was hoping for another medal in this match. In the men's single sculls final, Balraj Panwar finished fourth with a timing of 6 minutes 54.80 seconds. He was in second place till 1500 meters but fell behind in the last 500 metres. Despite this, the pair of Satnam and Salman performed brilliantly and made India proud by winning bronze in rowing.