Tokyo Olympics 2020: Indian rowers move to repechage round in men's lightweight double sculls, finish 5th in heats

Tokyo: The Indian rowing duo of Arvind Singh and Arjun Lal Jat qualified for the repechage round after finishing fifth in the men’s lightweight double sculls heat on Saturday. Competing in heat 2, the Indian pair finished with a timing of 6:40.33 in the six-team field, failing to qualify for the semi-finals. The top two teams – Ireland (6:23.74) and Czech Republic (6:28.10) – advanced to the semi-finals while Poland (6:31.85), Ukraine (6:36.05) and Uruguay (6:42.85) moved to the repechage round alongside India. The repechage round allows boats a second chance to qualify for the quarter-finals, semi-finals or finals. While Arjun assumed the role of the bower, Arvind was the stroker. Trailing till the 1500m mark, the duo sped up in the 500m to secure the fifth position. The event includes two rowers in a scull boat using two oars each. The long, narrow and broadly semi-circular in cross-section boats helps to reduce the drag. The maximum weight set for each male competitor is 72.5kg (159.8lbs) and the average weight cannot exceed 70 kg (154.3lbs) while for the female rowers, the maximum individual weight is 59 kg (130.0 lbs) and the average weight cannot be more than 57kg (125.6 lbs).