India claimed a bronze medal in the Canoe Sprint competitions at the 19th Asian Games when Arjun Singh and Sunil Singh Salam finished third in the Men's Canoe Double 1000m at the Fuyang Water Sports Centre on Tuesday.
In the final held at the picturesque Fuyang riverfront, Arjun Singh, 16, and Sunil Singh, 24, finished in third place in 3:53.329 to trail in behind gold medallist Uzbekistan (3:43.796) and silver medallist Kazakstan (3:49.991).
This is India's second medal in canoeing at the Asian Games after Johnny Rommel and Siji Kumar Sadanandan bagged a bronze in the Men's Canoe Double 1000m in the Hiroshima Games in 1994.
The Indian duo had started well and were in first place by the 250m mark, completing it in 53.92 seconds. But the Uzbeki and Kazakh paddlers raced past them and Arjun and Sunil Singh were in third place at the midway stage. They maintained their position.
This is the second Asian Games for Sunil Men's C-2 1000m in 2018 in Indonesia, finishing sixth overall. He is a very experienced paddler having participated in C-2 1000m and C-1 2000m at the World Championships in 2019 and 2023 and World Cups.
In contrast, this is only the second international event for the 16-year-old Arjun Singh. Earlier this year, he participated in the World Championships in Duisburg, Germany, finishing 9th in Men's C-2 1000m.
This took India's overall medals tally to 61 with 13 gold, 24 silver and 24 bronze.
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