Indian canoers enter final along with women's kayak pair
Asian Games along with the men's and women's pairs, here on Saturday. Niraj topped the canoe single 1000m semi-final by clocking 4:31.626s after missing the final qualification in heat 1, where he managed a time of 4:25.162 seconds.
Taipei's Kuan-Chieh Lai emerged the winner by clocking a blistering 4:02.431s.
Later, the top three in the four-canoer semifinals advanced to the medal round with Niraj taking the top spot.
The eight-man final is scheduled for Monday.
The Indian team of Ribason Singh Ningthoujam and Gyaneshwor Singh Philem reached the canoe double 500m final after finishing third with a combined timing of 1:57.225 seconds in the semifinals.
This was after they finished fourth in heats with a timing of 1:54.829 seconds.
In the women's Kayak double 500m semifinal, the Indian duo of Binita Chanu Oinam and Parvathy Geetha finished second with a combined timing of 2:07.036 seconds after claiming fourth place in the heats, clocking 2:06.956 seconds.
India have won only one bronze medal so far in the sport at the Asian Games — a bronze at the 1994 Hiroshima edition.
