Indian Rowing team eyes gold at Asian Games

HYDERABAD - The members of Indian Rowing team have expressed confidence of winning gold in the upcoming Asian Games in China.

Rowing coach Ismail Baig said that the team is confident of giving a much better performance than the last edition of the Games in Doha.

“We are in the last stage for the preparations of the Asian Games; we will be leaving for China on November 7. We have been preparing for it since four years and we did not perform well at the Asian Games in Doha. This time our target is to anyhow win gold and maximum number of medals,” said Baig.

This time a total of 28 athletes, including men and women, have undergone rigorous practice session at the Hussain Sagar Lake in Hyderabad.

Members of the national squad said that they expect their hard work to pay off at the games.

After the spectacular display in the XIXth Commonwealth Games, the Indian athletes are confident of delivering their best in the ensuing XVI Asian Games to be staged at China’s Guangzhou city.

“The aim of all the train has been towards the Asian Games though we had one or two events in the middle and we really expect to come with a medal this time all the girls, we have trained extremely hard and all of us are expecting to out with a medal,” said Priya, women’s rowing team member.

The Sports Ministry on Thursday cleared a record-843 member Indian contingent, including athletes and officials, to participate in the forthcoming Asian Games, to be held from November 12 to 27.

The Indian contingent will comprise of 360 men athletes, 349 women athletes, 127 coaches, 44 managers, a team of doctors and other sports officials.

Ace shooter Gagan Narang, who picked up four gold medals in the Delhi Commonwealth Games, will be the flag bearer at the XVI Asian Games.

In the last edition of Asiad at Doha, India sent 432 athletes to compete in 31 disciplines and finished with a total of 53 medals - 10 gold, 17 silver and 26 bronze.

The Asian Games, held once in four years, is the second mega multi-sport event after the Olympics.

The 16-day-long sports event would feature 42 sports, including 28 Olympic sports and 14 non-Olympic sports and also athletes from 45 nations would be participating. (ANI)