Chinese Taipei tops Asian Indoor Rowing Champs

The venue, the Hamad bin Khalifa University Student Centre attracted participants from 18 countries with the biggest participation from Kazakhstan with 14 athletes.

Hosted by the Qatar Sailing and Rowing Federation, this is the first time that this event has been staged in the Gulf region and this was reflected in the increased number of entries from West Asian federations including Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon and Iraq.

Chinese Taipei and Kazakhstan both fielded strong teams. Chinese Taipei topped the medals table with three gold, three silver and two bronze medals. Kazakhstan was second with nine medals, including two gold and six silver, while Japan was third with two gold and three bronze medals.

Individual and pairs events were held over two days in both the open and lightweight categories as well as an Asian Rowing Federation (ARF) president’s friendship race. This was in the form of athletes from different countries drawn into scratch mixed fours who then raced together to promote friendship and harmony.

Three-time Olympian Puttharaska Nikree Rodenberg of Thailand, one of Asia’s longest serving female rowers at 40 years old, came directly from celebrating her wedding to win the lightweight women’s individual event – adding to the numerous medals she has won for Thailand in various competitions.

The First Asian Coaches conference was held in conjunction with the Championships with 32 coaches from 18 countries attending. Presentations were given by Axel Mueller of the FISA youth commission and Chris Perry, chair of the ARF competition committee. Topics focussed on preparation for major events such as the Asian Games which will be held in Chungju, Korea in September 2014.

His Excellency Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, secretary general of the Qatar Olympic Committee attended the opening ceremony and first races of the competition.

For full results: http://arfrowing.org/