Indian rower Dattu Baban Bhokanal has qualified for the Rio Olympics after winning a silver in the men’s single sculls event at the FISA Asian and Oceania Olympic Qualification Regatta at Chung-ju in South Korea. The 25-year-old army man clocked 7 minutes, 7.63 seconds in the 2 km course to finish second. The top seven in the finals qualify for the Rio Games.
- Nashik-born Bhokanal, who trains at the Army Rowing Node (ARN) in Pune, was on course for a gold medal finish as he was leading the five-man field till the 1,500 metre mark but Korean Dongyong Kim (07 minutes, 5.13 secs) overtook him at the final stretch.
- India could not, however, book a Rio berth in the men’s lightweight double sculls as the pair of Vikram Singh and Roopendra Singh finished fifth in the finals. Only top three qualify for Rio Olympics in this category.
- Bhokanal will be the lone Indian rower taking part in Rio Games as no more qualifying events are left now.
- Bhokanal will be the ninth rower to represent India in the Olympics after Kasam Khan and Inderpal Singh (Sydney 2000; men’s coxless pairs), Paulose Pandari Kunnel (Athens 2004; men’s singles sculls), Bajrang Takhar (Beijing 2008; men’s singles sculls), Manjit Singh and Devender Khandwal (Beijing 2008; men’s lightweight double sculls) and Sawarn Singh (London 2012; men’s singles sculls) and Manjit Singh and Sandeep Kumar (London 2012; men’s lightweight double sculls).
- Born in Nashik in 1991, Bhokanal comes from a humble background and took to rowing in 2012 at the BEG Centre at Kirkee in Pune. In 2013, he shifted to ARN, Pune for better training.
