Rower Dattu Bhokanal wins silver to qualify for Olympics
Indian rower Dattu Bhokanal qualified for the Olympics on Monday after winning a silver in the men’s singles sculls competition at the 2016 FISA Asian and Oceania Olympic Qualification Regatta at Chung-ju in South Korea. The 25-year-old finished the race in 7 mins and 07.49 seconds to finish second.
Dattu Bhokanal had won two gold medals at the 2014 National Rowing Championships for Services and also represented India at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea. The 25-year-old Armyman’s biggest achievement so far was winning a silver in the men’s single sculls competition the 16th Asian Rowing Championships in China last year.
The top seven rowers in the final qualified for the Olympics, and Dattu was assured a ticket to Rio yesterday itself after coming second in the semi-final.
However, India’s hopes of securing a place in the men’s lightweight double sculls went up in smoke after the pair of Vikram Singh and Roopendra Singh finished fifth in the finals. In the men’s lightweight double sculls the top 3 in the final qualified for the Olympics.