Doha-Indian men rowers make to semis

The Indian duo easily overwhelmed the challenge from the Pak and the Kuwaiti team.

Indian men rowers Anil Kumar Mehrolia and Bajranglal Takhar led all the way and entered the semi finals by winning the men's double sculls repechage 2 in the Asian Games in Doha on Monday.

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The Indian duo easily overwhelmed the challenge from Pakistan's Zohaib Zia Hashmi-Mohd Akram and the Kuwaiti pair of Sabiti Mohd and Al Failakawi Read to win the 1-km race in 3 minutes and 53.91 seconds at the West Bay Lagoon.

The Indians were past the half way mark in 1:54.59.

The Pak pair finished in 4:05.49 while the Kuwait team clocked 4:52.16.

But the Indian pair face a formidable challenge in their bid to enter the final as they are up against strong challengers from South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong in the semi finals scheduled for December 5, 2006.

The Indian pair finished third in the preliminary heat 2 in 4:02.42 and given a second chance to advance took it with both hands on Monday.