Lucknow: Four rowers from Uttar Pradesh have been selected for the national coaching camp being organised to prepare Indian athletes for the Asian Under-19 and Under-23 Rowing Championships scheduled to be held in Pune in December.
The camp is being conducted at the Army Rowing Node in Pune from October 7 to 31, with 80 selected rowers from across the country participating. The four Uttar Pradesh athletes selected in the Under-19 category are Deepak Kumar, Yash Kumar Yadav, Harinath Yadav and Praveen Kumar. All four have reached Pune to join the training programme.
Ramgarh Tal is Their Training Base
Uttar Pradesh Rowing Association secretary and Rowing Federation of India vice-president Sudhir Sharma said all four athletes train at Ramgarh Tal in Gorakhpur. Their selection was based on their performances at the National Junior Rowing Championship held in Gorakhpur in May this year.
Deepak Kumar belongs to Aligarh, Yash Kumar Yadav to Azamgarh, Harinath Yadav to Deoria and Praveen Kumar to Hapur. The quartet won the gold medal for Uttar Pradesh in the boys’ quadruple sculls event at the 46th Junior National Rowing Championship in Gorakhpur.
Camp to Prepare Athletes for Asian Championships
According to Sharma, all four selected Uttar Pradesh rowers belong to the Under-19 category. Under-23 athletes were selected through the Under-23 and First Para National Rowing Championships held in Pune in June. A separate training camp for women athletes is being organised in Bhopal.
The national camp will help prepare athletes in both age categories for the Asian Championships in December. Their fitness, training progress and performances will be assessed to identify the strongest contenders for the Indian team.
Rowing Federation of India secretary-general Shubhashish Mukherjee said the Pune camp would be a crucial stage in preparations for the continental competition. India is hosting the Asian Under-19 and Under-23 Rowing Championships for the first time, with the event scheduled from December 1 to 7, 2026, at the Army Rowing Node in Pune. Performances at the camp will contribute to the process of finalising the Indian squad.
Services Have the Highest Representation
Rowing Federation of India president Balaji Maradappa said Services has the largest contingent, with 19 athletes selected for the camp. Madhya Pradesh has 12 athletes and Odisha 10, while Haryana, Kerala and BSC have eight each. Uttar Pradesh, the Navy and Maharashtra have four athletes each, Chandigarh has two and Assam has one.
Coaches called up for the camp include P. Lava Kumar, Jegan S. and Sonu Lakshminarayan from Services, Yasin Khan from BSC and Manish Tiwari from SAI Andaman.
Congratulations for Uttar Pradesh Athletes
The selection of the four Uttar Pradesh rowers was welcomed by Dr Anadeshwar Pandey, general secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Olympic Association, along with members of the Uttar Pradesh Rowing Association. Those congratulating the athletes included patron Pawan Singh Chauhan, MLC; president Rani Pakshalika Singh, MLA; chairperson Renuka Mishra, IPS; selection committee chairman Aditya Mishra, retired IPS; and patrons Dr R.P. Singh, Rajiv Trivedi, Vinod Kumar Singh, Dr R.K. Swarnakar and Deepak Kumar.
They wished the athletes success in the national camp and expressed hope that their performances would earn them places in the Indian squad for the Asian Championships.
