West Bengal's young rowers dedicate Kashmir wins to lost teammates

KOLKATA: The Bengal rowing team that was physically weary with zero water practice for a month and emotionally drained following the death of two co-rowers at Rabindra Sarobar, came out with flying colours at the national championship in Kashmir on Saturday, winning five medals, including two golds, in eight events. They dedicated the victory to their deceased teammates.
"We are extremely proud of all the 28 participants.It is a unique performance in a National Rowing Championship by any team, which participated without any practice outing in a boat over the last one month," said West Bengal Rowing Association secretary Aniruddha Mookerjee. Coach Vikram Sharma said in the absence of water rowing, he had focused on long running and cardio to keep the rowers' fitness level on top. "I am glad the module worked. I wonder whether the team could have bagged more medals could they practise in water. I am proud of all of them," said Sharma.

While Soumava Sankar Sen and Prathamesh Mukherjee won gold in men's double scull, Sunayana Gayen and Ritsika Das won gold in the under-sub-junior girls' double scull event. Among the silver medallists were Drikpriya Paul and Md Armand in women's single scull and sub-junior-boys' single scull. The men's coxless fours team, comprising Shaikh Adil Raja, Ishan Mukherjee, Rohit Kumar Singh and Ajay Kumar, won bronze.
The winners told TOI they were thrilled about their victory but could not forget the loss of their friends-South Point students Pushan Sadhukhan (14) and Souryadeep Chattopadhyay (14)-who drowned during a squall while they were practising at Rabindra Sarobar on May 21. "The victory would have been sweeter had we had the two young rowers among us. I dedicate today's victory to them. Even though they are not among us, they are very much part of the rowing fraternity," said Prathamesh Mukherjee, a Class XII student at GD Birla Centre for Education, who won gold in the men's double scull event. The winners and participants from Bengal maintained a one-minute silence to pay respects to Pushan and Souryadeep.
"I knew both of them. Had they been around, they could have been with us today on this platform. While in the water, those memories kept coming back but I had to keep them away and perform my best to make my state proud," said Drikpriya Paul, silver medallist in the women's single scull event and a Class XII student at Mahadevi Birla World Academy.
Rowing at Rabindra Sarobar has been under suspension since the deaths. Kolkata Police has drafted an 11-point SOP, which clubs are trying to implement for rowing to resume at the Lake. "No words are good enough to praise our rowing boys and girls, who performed so well in the championship in Kashmir, despite the odds and the tragic incident at Rabindra Sarovar," said Chandan Roy Chowdhury of Calcutta Rowing Club, which had the most number of participants in the 28-member team.