Asian Games 2023: Canoeing athlete Niraj, kayak team of Binita, Geetha storm into final

India’s canoeing athlete Niraj Verma and team of Binita Chanu and Geetha Parvathy entered the final of the men’s 1000 m singles canoeing and women’s 500 m kayak double event at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Saturday.

In the semifinal of the men’s 1000 m singles canoeing event, Niraj clocked 4:31.626 minutes to qualify for the final.

🛶 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗦! Niraj Verma finished 1st in the semi-finals with a timing of 4:31.626 to qualify for the final.

🙌 The women's kayak double team managed to come second in the semi-finals with a timing of 2:07.036 to book their ticket to finale.

👉 Both the… pic.twitter.com/dKpFhQ3O9F

— Team India at the Asian Games 🇮🇳 (@sportwalkmedia) September 30, 2023

Later, in the women’s 500 m kayak double event semifinal, Binita and Geetha clocked 2:07.036 minutes to finish second and among the top three teams that reached the final.

The finals are scheduled for October 2. Canoeing events will be held at the Asian Games from September 30 to October 7. Sprint events will take place from September 30 to October 3 while slalom races will take place from October 5 to October 7.

India has 17 athletes competing in canoeing events at the 19th Asian Games, with four competing in slalom events and 13 competing in sprint events.