Olympics: Indian scullers finish sixth and last in semifinals
I
ndia's woes at the Tokyo Olympic Games continued with the men's lightweight double sculls rowing team of Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh falling short of making the medals round at the Sea Forest Waterway, finishing sixth and last in the semifinals on Wednesday.
Only the top-three from each semifinal make it to the finals of the event, while the Indian scullers clocked 624.41 to end at the bottom of the six-boat race.
World champions Fintan McCarthy and Paul O'donovan of Ireland clocked a world best time of 605.33 to win the semifinal race while Italy's Stefano Oppo and Pietro Ruta finished second in 607.70. Belgium's Niels van Zandweghe and Tim Brys came in third with a timing of 613.07.
The three teams will now compete in, the medal round -- called Final 'A' -- on Thursday, while the Indian scullers will compete in Final 'B' the same day to determine their ranking at the Olympics.
The Arjun-Arvind duo began well and stayed in contention for a top-three finish during the initial run, but as the race progressed, the pair struggled to keep up with their competitors.
It was a mixed performance by the Indian scullers, who had clocked 640.33 in the heats to finish fifth. In the repechage, they were even slower, touching the finish line in 651.36, but still it was good enough for them to manage a third-place place and qualify for the semifinals.
✔️ Olympics: Indian scullers finish sixth and last in semifinals
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