Two players of State Rowing Academy Mehul Krishnani and Khushpreet Kaur have qualified for World Virtual Rowing Championship by clinching two gold medals each at Asian Continental Qualifying Virtual Indoor Championship held at Upper Lake in Bhopal on Sunday. Mehul Krishnani and Khushpreet Kaur will represent Asia in upcoming World Rowing Championship, which will also be held virtually. For the first time a virtual qualifying championship was organised for rowing.

 

Players from across Asia took part in the championship virtually. Modern equipment with high speed internet was installed for live telecast to ensure participation of players in this competition by the State Sports Department. A large number of players and officials were present at the venue to encourage players in the competition. Rowing player Mehul Krishnani won a gold medal in Under-19 Men’s 500 m event by finishing the event in 01: 25.4 seconds and 2000 meters in 06: 21.2 seconds at the Indoor Rowing Academy campus.

 

Similarly, Academy player Khushpreet Kaur won a gold medal in women’s under-23 event in 500 meter event in 01: 42.2 seconds and 2000 meters in 07: 33.8 seconds. This way Mehul and Khushpreet both qualified for World Virtual Rowing Championship-2021 by winning two gold medals each. Minister for Sports and Youth Welfare Yashodhara Raje Scindia has expressed her happiness over selection of two players for the World Championship. She congratulated both the players and their coach Captain Bhageerath Singh. Director of DSYW Pawan Jain met the players and backed them up, he said that it is a matter of pride that two players of Madhya Pradesh will represent Asia in the World Rowing Championship.