Satnam Singh and Salman Khan Win Bronze in Men's Double Sculls at Asian Games 2026

Indian rowers Satnam Singh and Salman Khan have won India's first-ever bronze medal in the men's double sculls at the Asian Games 2026 in Nagoya, Japan on 24th September, 2026.

Satnam Singh and Salman Khan Win India's First Men's Double Sculls Medal at the Asian Games 2026

The Indian pair finished third at the Nagaragawa International Regatta Course on Thursday, with a time of 6:13.25. They held second place until the 1,500m mark but slipped to third in the last 500m.

China's Yi Xudi and Yide Nie won gold in 6:09.37. Uzbekistan's Pavel Sorin and Mekhrojbek Mamatkulov took silver in 6:10.49. India finished 3.88 seconds behind the winners.

India's Overall Rowing Performance

India came close to another medal when Balraj Panwar finished fourth in the men's single sculls final in 6:54.80. He was second at the 500m, 1,000m and 1,500m marks, but dropped in the final stretch. China's Deng Zhiwei won gold in 6:38.98, 15.82 seconds ahead of Panwar.

India's last medal in this event came at Incheon 2014, where Sawarn Singh won bronze. Bajrang Lal Thakkar remains the only Indian gold medallist, winning at Guangzhou 2010.

About Satnam Singh's Journey to the Asian Games

Satnam, 26, is from Mansa district, Punjab. He started as a national-level handball player and switched to rowing about eight years ago, inspired by Olympian Swarn Singh Virk, who won gold at the 2018 Asian Games.

He finished eighth at the 2018 Youth Olympics. He later won the men's single sculls title at the 40th Senior National Rowing Championships, becoming the first Indian Navy rower to do so. He was also part of India's gold-winning quadruple sculls team at last year's Senior Asian Rowing Championships. This is his second Asian Games medal, after bronze at Hangzhou.

Salman Khan's Maiden Asian Games Medal

Salman, 28, began rowing in 2018 after joining the Bombay Engineering Group of the Indian Army. His coaches Satywan, Satish Siraat and Prabhat Mishra introduced him to the sport. He twice thought of quitting, but his coaches kept him going.

He won gold at the 2022 National Games in Gujarat and the indoor national title the same year. He then joined the Army Rowing Node under coach Kudrat Ali. In 2023, he won gold at the Senior Nationals and the Open Sprint Nationals, which earned him a place in the TOPS programme.