Indian rower Balraj Panwar put in a valiant show in the men's single Sculls event on July 27, Saturday, but his efforts went in vain after he fell agonisingly short of securing a direct qualification to the quarterfinals at the Paris Olympics 2024. Balraj, who was the only Indian representative in the category, clocked 7:07.11s to finish fourth in the heats, falling behind New Zealand's Thomas Mackintosh (6:55.92), Stefanos Ntouskos (7:01.79) and Abdelkhalek Elbanna (7:05.06). He will, however, get a second opportunity when he competes in the repechage round on Sunday in a bid to advance to the semifinals or finals.

Balraj, who began rowing only four years back and is only India's second representative in the discipline, narrowly missed out on the bronze medal at the Asian Games last year, but managed to secure an Olympic quota for the Paris Games earlier this year when he finished third at the Asian and Oceanian Rowing Olympic Qualification Regatta in South Korea.

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On Saturday, Balraj, the 25-year-old Armyman from Kaimla in Haryana’s Karnal district, made a strong start even as Mackintosh took a big early lead. He stood third after making a quick start, but fell behind after Elbanna caught up. The Indian maintained pressure on the Egyptian, but eventually succumbed to finish fourth.

According to the event rules, the top three athletes, regardless of their timing, will qualify for the quarterfinals, while the remainder will head to the repechage round. Placing in the repechage heats decides in which quarterfinal the athlete would race in. The top two athletes in each repechage heat head to the quarters, with the remaining players going to the semifinals. The singles sculls event consists of multiple rounds, with the competition continuing to use the five-round format introduced in 2012.

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