Indian rower Satnam Singh believes India’s bronze medal in the men’s Double Sculls at the 2026 Asian Games can help rowing grow in the country.
He said the medal had ended a long wait and given Indian rowers new hope for the future. “The paths that had been blocked have now opened. We can now hope that we will win more medals in this event in the future and perform even better,” Satnam told SAI Media on Thursday.
India had never won a medal in the Men’s Double Sculls event since the Asian Games started in 1951. Satnam from Punjab joined hands with Salman Khan to win the bronze with a time of 6:13.25 at the Nagaragawa International Regatta Course. This was Satnam’s second Asian Games medal. He had earlier won a bronze in the Quadruple Sculls event at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
“The experience is also very important. When a player is new, there is naturally pressure in competition. As you continue playing, your experience increases, your confidence grows and the fear starts to reduce. That is very important for an athlete,” he added.
However, he also added that the changing support structure around Indian Rowing has played a massive role in bringing the rowers closer to the world’s leading nations. For him, the biggest change was the opportunity to train and compete in Europe, which was facilitated by the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS).
“This was the first time we had camps in Europe. We also got the opportunity to race against some of the world’s top-class countries before the Asian Games. That gave us a chance to understand our level against the best,” Satnam said.
“Earlier, we were much further behind. But now, when we race against European countries, we are finishing around three to four seconds behind them,” he added.
“As the coaches continue to support us, new things and new technology are coming into the sport, and we are continuing to work. Because of that, Indian rowing is progressing significantly,” he concluded.
Satnam Singh also draws his attention for the upcoming LA 2028 Olympics. “At the moment, we are very hopeful about the Los Angeles Olympics. The effort will be to qualify in as many events as possible. If we look at India in the past, we were not at this level. But now, as I said, we are racing against European countries and finishing only around three to four seconds behind them.
“Earlier, we were much further behind. But as the coaches continue to support us, new things and new technology come into the sport, and we keep working, we are progressing a lot in rowing. We are hopeful that going forward, we can also win gold at the Asian Games. We will always keep trying for that. And for the Olympics, our hope is to participate and go all the way to the final,” Satnam Singh told SAI Media.