Kerala girls win laurels at Senior National Rowing Championship in Pune

Kerala took the lead right from the beginning and stayed ahead till the end.The above four girls from Kerala had clinched a silver medal also in coxless fours 2000 meters on Friday

Rose Mariya Joshi, Meenakshy VS, Sneha Biju and Amrutha DA from Kerala came out with a lion-hearted performance to clinch the gold in coxless fours 500 metres final in the 37th Senior National Rowing Championship at Army Rowing Node (ARN), College of Military Engineering (CME) campus which concluded on Saturday.

(from left) Sneha Biju, Meenakshy VS, Rose Mariya Joshi and Amrutha DA pose for a picture after winning gold medal in coxless fours 500 metres final in the 37th Senior National Rowing Championship at Army Rowing Node (ARN) in College of Military Engineering (CME) campus on Saturday. (HT)

It was their first gold medal for Kerala after they had won one silver and bronze in the first three days of the championship.

Girls from Kerala completed the race in one minute 41.84 seconds while Amritpal Kaur, Anjali Raj, Mamta Jena, Neethumol GS from Chandigarh took one minute 42.78 seconds to clinch silver and Priya, Annu, Pooja and Harpreet from Haryana took one minute and 43.87 seconds to earn a bronze medal.

“Heats were tough in semi-finals which was making our boat to move towards right side more which we needed to control it and we did manage to do it,” said Biju

“Chandigarh was was the toughest competitor in the final, so there was pressure on us but I am happy that we have delivered our best performance,” added Biju .

“The girls really performed well. Meenakshy and Amruta are from the sub-junior category but still, they came out with a brilliant show,” said Jose Jacob, coach, Kerala team.

Result: (500 metres final)

Women: Coxless Fours: 1. Kerala (Rose Mariya Joshi, Meenakshy VS, Sneha Biju,Amrutha DA ) 1:41.84; 2. Chandigarh (Amritpal Kaur, Anjali Raj, Mamta Jena, Neethumol) 1:42.78; 3. Haryana (Priya, Annu, Pooja, Harpreet) 1:43.87