Hyderabad, Feb 25 (IANS) In what could be a huge fillip to the Olympic sport of rowing, the iconic Hussain Sagar Lake will stage the country’s first-ever city-based league – Asmita Rowing League – from Wednesday (Feb 26) onwards. Eight teams will be in the fray in the league backed by the Government of India’s Khelo India mission.
The eight participating teams – Bhopal Waves Queen, Chennai Ranis, Cochin Queens, Cuttack Rowing, Deccan Queen Pune, Hyderabad Queen, Kolkata R-Oars, and Ludhiana Team Rowing – with an overall participation of 250 girls will vie for bragging rights in Under-19 and Under-23 age categories and five different events, SAI Media informed in a release on Tuesday.
Organised in collaboration with the Rowing Federation of India, the tournament will also reward the top six finishers in each event – Single Sculls (W1x), Double Sculls (W2x), Quadruple Sculls (W4x), Coxless Pairs (W2), Coxless Fours (W4) – with attractive cash incentives.
National chief coach and Dronacharya Awardee Ismail Baig, who has accompanied the Indian team to five Olympics and seven Asian Games, praised the Union Government for taking up the cause of promoting women’s sports, particularly rowing.
“Our honourable Prime Minister Modi ji has taken various measures to encourage women’s sports and the Asmita Rowing League is just a small part of the greater plan. We are staging such a city-based league for the first time in this sport…As you know we are preparing to host the Summer Olympics in 2036 and at that point, our women’s team not only qualifies but also contends for a medal is the objective of staging this league. Since it is being organised for the first time, we have relaxed certain rules to encourage more and more kids to come and compete,” Baig told SAI Media.
Varsha K.B., who finished fifth in the coxed eight event at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, trains at the SAI Allepey Centre and is of the opinion that the Asmita League will act as a springboard for attracting more girls to water sports.
“The Asmita Rowing League is happening for the first time even though I have been rowing since 2015. Forget women or girls, no such competition happened for even boys in all these years. This is a great opportunity for girls to come and participate and showcase their talent and skills.
“Since it is also for the Under-19 age group, it offers more chances to younger girls. We don’t have many competitions round the year so a league like this fills that gap,” Varsha KB, who picked up a gold medal for Kerala in the coxless fours event at the recently-concluded 38th National Games, said after a practice session at the Hussain Sagar Lake.
Monika Bhadoria, who trains at SAI NCOE Jagatpur, will be representing the Cuttack team in the Asmita Rowing League. Rowing is a male-dominated sport and she believes that a city-based league is the right platform to bring girls to par with the opposite gender.
“I began rowing from the sub-junior level back in 2017. I won many medals in both junior and senior Nationals. I recently participated in the National Games in Uttarakhand. I am competing this week in the women’s single and doubles sculls of the Asmita Rowing League. Rowing is a male-dominated sport and individuals from the Indian Army are mostly on top.
“Girls somehow are unable to match them. That is why organising such a league is beneficial for all girls. Indian girls will get a chance to showcase their talent and also gain experience from the competition if such leagues are organised regularly,” Monika Bhadoria told SAI Media.
–IANS
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