China stands out at Asian Champs

China dominated the 13th Asian Rowing Championships held in Chinese Taipei, winning nine of the 17 events. Meanwhile the 15th Asian Junior Championships, held in conjunction with the rowing championships, went Korea’s way in the absence of a strong Chinese presence. 

Racing on the scenic Dong-Shan river in Chinese Taipei’s Yi-Lan County the combined senior and junior regatta attracted participants from 17 Asian countries and regions with over 450 rowers.

There were excellent weather conditions on the water and racing proceeded smoothly throughout the week under the supervision of jury president Takao Senda (JPN), Mike Tanner (chair, FISA events commission) and Nicholas Ee (FISA umpiring commission).

In the Senior Championships, China dominated the medal table with nine golds and one bronze medal. The Chinese crews were selected from their top provincial teams at the recent Chinese National Games and, despite a delayed arrival due to early snow in Beijing, they showed their usual high standard of physical preparation.
Second overall was Hong Kong China with four golds, three silvers and one bronze medal. As has become usual, the Hong Kong crews showed strength in the lightweight sculling events with Beijing Olympians Kwong Wing Chow and Sau Wah So winning the lightweight men’s double and Ka Man Lee winning the women’s lightweight single. Chow and So also took silver in the open double whilst Lee paired up with her younger sister to take silver in the lightweight women’s double.

India placed third in the overall senior ranking with one gold, three silvers and one bronze. Sculler Bajrang Lal Takhar won the men’s single beating his Olympic rivals Ming Hui Wang of Chinese Taipei and Hiu Fung Law of Hong Kong China. India also showed strongly in the men’s eight, men’s four and lightweight men’s double – winning silver medals in all three events.

One of the most exciting and closely fought races of the championships was the men’s quadruple sculls which attracted a record entry of nine boats. In the final, China, Uzbekistan and India rowed a close-fought race over the first half of the course before China drew away to win in 5:59.19, Uzbekistan were second in 6:02.49 and India third in 6:05.97.

A total of 10 out of the 17 Federations taking part in the event won medals.

The Junior Championships were won overall by Korea with a total of four golds and two silver medals. Hosts Chinese Taipei were second with two golds, one silver and one bronze and India again took third with two golds and three bronze medals. The junior men’s single was won by Woo-gyu Gang of Korea and the women’s single by Tomomi Akao of Japan, who also took a silver medal in the senior women’s single. A total of eight federations won medals.

Federations participating with crews in Yi-Lan were China, Hong Kong China, Indonesia, India, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, Uzbekistan, Vietnam.
Further information and results can be found here.

Wei Di, president of the Asian Rowing Federation complimented the hosts – Chinese Taipei Amateur Rowing Association – for their excellent work in organising the championships. The ARF Congress was held during the event, and it was agreed to establish a working group to develop an Asian regatta circuit. It was also agreed to establish a working group to promote and develop adaptive rowing in the region. The 2011 Asian Senior and Junior Championships were awarded to Hwancheon in South Korea.

Teams from the East Asian zone are now looking ahead to the 5th East Asian Games which will be hosted in Hong Kong China from 5 – 13 December 2009. The rowing competition will be held from 9 to 12 December on the Shing Mun River in Shatin. Further details can be found at the EAG Website.

Report prepared by Chris Perry – FISA Development Consultant, Asia.

The World Rowing team values feedback.