"Achieved everything we had worked hard for": Indian Rower Punit Kumar after winning silver in Men's Coxed Eight
Sep 24, 2023
Hangzhou [China], September 24 : After winning the silver medal in the Men's Coxed Eight, Indian Rower Punit Kumar said that since 2019 his team has been working very hard for this medal and they have achieved everything we had worked hard for.
With the help of spectacular strength and teamwork, Indian Rowers secured a remarkable second place with a timing of 05:43.01 in the Men's Coxed Eight final event at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou on Sunday.
In the men’s eight final, the Indian team of Charanjeet Singh, DU Pande, Naresh Kalwaniya, Neeraj, Neetesh Kumar, Ashish, Bheem Singh, Jaswinder Singh and Punit Kumar was on China’s heels till the last quarter but settled for silver after finishing in 5:43.01.
"I am very happy and proud. We have been working really hard for this medal. The Army helped us after Covid in 2019. We had our eyes on this medal from 2019. We have achieved everything we had worked hard for and what our coaches have dreamed of. We were confident of winning and had no doubt about it. We are proud and happy to bring laurel to India," Punit Kumar told ANI.
China claimed gold in 5:40.17 while Indonesia, who were leading India at the halfway mark, won the bronze medal with a 5:45.51 time in the final.
"China had the advantage because it was their home ground. I think if this was held somewhere else the result could have been different. We followed our coach's plan and it was successful. We have never doubted his plans," he added.
India kicked off their Asian Games 2023 campaign in grand style, winning three silver medals and two bronze.
India's rowers competed in the final five events on Sunday which are men's lightweight double sculls, men's double sculls, women's four, men's pair and men's eight events. In the first final, Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh won silver, Babu Lal Yadav and Lekh Ram bagged a bronze medal in the men's pairs and the men's eights won silver.
