Legend Bajrang Lal Takhar guides team to Asian Games rowing silver

Arjun Lal Jat (left) and Arvind Singh with their silver medals at Hangzhou yesterday. Pic/PTI

Legendary Indian rower Bajrang Lal Takhar was a proud man at the Fuyang Water Sports Centre on Sunday. Takhar, the first and only Indian to bag an individual rowing gold at the 2010 Guangzhou Asiad and who is part of the Indian rowing contingent here as an official, termed Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh's silver effort a massive achievement. India's rowers picked up three medals out of the five finals they competed in - two silvers and a bronze. Bajrang Lal Takhar said he considered it a massive achievement as the Indians gave the mighty Chinese a tough fight.

Former India rowing champion Bajrang Lal Takhar at the Fuyang Water Sports Centre yesterday. Pic/Ashwin Ferro

‘Boys really wanted that gold'

India's Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh picked up the first rowing medal of the day, a silver in the lightweight men's double sculls, clocking six minutes 28.18 seconds. China took gold, clocking 6:23.16. The Indian duo were actually in the lead against the Chinese for the first 500 metres of the 2km race. "We were leading in the 500m, though we may have been ahead by just a microsecond, but it showed that these boys really wanted that gold medal," Takhar told mid-day, adding that it could well be a case of gold lost rather than silver won here.

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Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh during the lightweight men's double sculls event yesterday. Pics/PTI

"Arjun and Arvind are our most experienced pair and our biggest best for a gold medal, so in that sense, it is a bit disappointing, but hats off to their effort. They have always given the Chinese a tough fight, even in two of the last three World Cups we participated in [Switzerland and Serbia], we lost in the semis to the Chinese. They are Olympic and world championship medallists so it's tough to beat them," added Takhar, stressing that this is India's best finish in this particular event, the previous medal being a bronze that was won 16 years ago in Doha by Bijender Singh and Kiran Yalamanchi.

Babu Lal Yadav (left) and Lekh Ram with their bronze medals

Takhar's role with the rowing contingent is that of a motivator given his impressive achievements in the past. And on Saturday night, he did his best to try and instill that extra bit of confidence in Arjun and Arvind. "Last night, I spoke to Arjun and Arvind and told them that the weather conditions are similar to that back home, so that cannot be a hindrance. Also, their timings were good so I told them to aim for a 23 or 24 [six minutes 23 seconds or six mins 24 seconds]. As things turned out today, that timing would have been good enough for the gold medal but this is not to question the hard work and effort put in by Arjun and Arvind. They are gold medallists for me," added Takhar.

India players celebrate after clinching silver in men's eight event yesterday

Moments after this silver medal-winning effort, India's Babu Lal Yadav and Lekh Ram clinched a bronze medal in the men's pair event, clocking 6:50.41, behind Uzbekistan's (6:48.11), while China took the gold (6:44. 20). Ram admitted there is room for improvement. "We have to give our best and hope to get better in upcoming competitions, including at the Olympics if we can qualify," he said.

Silver in men's eight event

India's third rowing medal of the day was a silver in the men's eight event, won by Neeraj, Nareskh Kalwaniya, Neetish Kumar, Charanjeet Singh, Jaswinder Singh, Bheem Singh, Puneet Kumar and Ashish. Dhananjay Uttam Pande performed the role of a coxswain in the team. They clocked 5:43.01 to finish second to China (5:40.17) while Indonesia (5:45.51) won the bronze. "It all went as per plan which was to ensure we build pressure on teams like Uzbekistan, Indonesia and Japan and then try to target China for the win," said Pande.