Asian Games: Rowing camp in turmoil over last-minute changes to crews
Disquiet is brewing at India's rowing camp in the Asian Games with some players claiming that they have been shifted from the events they were originally entered and reserves have been included in the first team, as competitions begin on Wednesday.
One rower said that he has been shifted from his pet event and a reserve player has replaced him. He said it happened after the meeting of the team managers of different participating countries on Monday.
Another rower said that the players who have been either dropped or shifted to other events are "very disturbed" and have not taken food after the development earlier in the day.
"Some rowers have not taken food yet as they are in a disturbed state of mind. They are not knowing what to do," the rower told PTI on the condition of anonymity.
An official, who is tracking the development in the rowing team, confirmed that some of the players are not in the best shape mentally.
"It is very sad, but things are not rosy in the rowing team," he said.
It is learnt that the 2022 Asian Games silver medal winner Arvind Singh, who was to compete in single sculls, has been shifted to quadruple sculls. Balraj Panwar, who was in quadruple sculls, was shifted to single sculls.
Saurav Kumar and Vipul Satish were to be the men's pair first team but they are set to be replaced by Nitin Kumar and Jaswinder Singh. Reserve player Jasmail Singh is set to be named in coxless four.
Navdeep Singh and Kulwinder Singh are set to be shifted out of double sculls to quadruple sculls.
According to a senior rowing official, 50 per cent of the crew can be changed in case of a medical emergency, but players allege this was a complete change.EQUESTRIAN EVENT POSTPONED DUE TO APPROACHING TYPHOON DUJUAN
The Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games organisers on Monday postponed the equestrian eventing competition in Tokyo to Tuesday due to the approaching Typhoon Dujuan.
The organisers put up the updated schedule with Eventing Dressage and Eventing Jumping starting on Tuesday.FIRST DOPE CASE OF AICHI-NAGOYA GAMES
Meanwhile, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) on Monday announced the first dope case of the Asian Games after an adverse analytical finding of a Thai female badminton player for the prohibited substance furosemide. She has been provisionally suspended with immediate effect.
The International Testing Agency is the testing and results management authority of the OCA at the Asian Games.
"The sample was collected from Thailand's badminton player Pitchamon Opatniputh during an out-of-competition doping control on September 17 in Nagoya," the OCA said in a statement.
The athlete has not yet participated in any competition at the Asian Games and is scheduled to compete in the women's team quarterfinals on Tuesday.
"Furosemide is prohibited under the WADA Prohibited List as S5 Diuretics and Masking Agents. It is prohibited at all times (in and out of competition) and is classified as a specified substance. Furosemide can be used by athletes to excrete water for rapid weight loss," the OCA statement said.
"The athlete has been informed of the case and has been provisionally suspended with immediate effect until the resolution of the matter in line with the World Anti-Doping Code and the OCA Anti-Doping Rules. This means that the athlete is prevented from competing, training, coaching, or participating in any activity during the Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026."
The athlete has the right to challenge the imposition of the provisional suspension before the Court of Arbitration for Sport's Anti-Doping Division. The athlete also has the right to request the analysis of the B-sample.- EndsPublished By: Amar PanickerPublished On: Sep 21, 2026 21:43 IST
