Fifty crews from eleven Asian Federations have gathered in Hong Kong for the 9th Asian Junior Rowing Championships.  The large entry includes crews from Sri Lanka, Chinese Taipei, Japan, India, Pakistan, Korea, China, Singapore, Kazakhstan, Singapore and Hong Kong. 

Many of the young athletes taking part will be racing in their first-ever international competition and some, like the rowers from Kazakhstan, have traveled thousands of kilometers to attend the event.

Racing conditions were excellent for the heats on the Shing Mun River regatta course in Hong Kong with clear skies and a brisk tail-wind.

In the men’s single sculls Qu Xiao Ming of China qualified directly for the finals in the morning’s fastest time of 7:18.82, after beating off a strong challenge from Wang Ming Hui of Chinese Taipei. The second heat was won by Hong Kong’s Chow Kwong Wing who beat Prikhodko Pavel of Kazakhstan in a time of 7:32.01.

In the women’s singles 16 year-old Lee Ka Man of Hong Kong, 5th at the World Junior Championships in Athens earlier this year, won comfortably ahead of Masi Rahayu of Indonesia in 8:06.93. The second heat was won by Hung Wan Ping of Chinese Taipei in 8:14.99 ahead of Dwibedy Pravasini of India.

In the men’s coxless fours Hong Kong took the first heat in 6:29.12, ahead of China, India and Japan. The second heat was won by Korea in 6:34.52 ahead of Kazakhstan, Chinese Taipei and Sri Lanka.

Japan’s Kie Kajiwara and Mayumi Kawano put in a strong showing to win their heat of the women’s double sculls finishing comfortably ahead of India in a time of 7:34.47. The second heat was won by China’s Huang Yan Na and Zhou Qiao in 7:45.10, with Indonesia second and Korea third.

Korea qualified directly for the finals of the men’s double sculls with a clear win over India, Japan and Sri Lanka. The Korean crew of Ham Jung Wook and Kim Jung Kyum finished in a time of 7:02.10. The second heat was won by Hong Kong’s So Sau Wah and Lo Ting Wai in 6:57.15 ahead of Chinese Taipei, China and Kazakhstan. The Hong Kong crew were 7th at the World Junior Championships in Athens earlier this year.

Tomorrow will see repechages for the above events with the finals taking place over the weekend.

Hong Kong has recently been awarded the right to host the 2009 East Asian Games and the Hong Kong China Rowing Association will be hoping to demonstrate its ability to host major rowing events as part of efforts to ensure that rowing will be included in the Games.