Archive · 22 Sep 2026
Indian Rowing Camp Faces Last-Minute Asian Games Crew Changes
Indian rowing teams were changed shortly before their Asian Games races.
Some rowers say they were removed from events they had prepared for.
Reserve athletes were reportedly placed into some first-team crews.
Arvind Singh and Balraj Panwar were moved between different boat events.
The changes upset several athletes, and some reportedly stopped eating.
Some rowers also discussed refusing to train, although officials were trying to resolve the dispute.
A rowing official said rules allow half of a crew to be changed during a medical emergency.
The rowers questioned whether that rule justified the changes.
Elsewhere, typhoon conditions delayed equestrian eventing, and Thai badminton player Pitchamon Opatniputh was provisionally suspended after a finding for furosemide.
Indian rowers said they were moved from their original Asian Games events shortly before competition.
Several athletes reportedly suffered mental distress, with some refusing food and others discussing a training strike.
Arvind Singh was shifted from single sculls to quadruple sculls, while Balraj Panwar moved in the opposite direction.
Other crews were substantially changed, including replacements in the men's pair, double sculls and coxless four.
Typhoon Dujuan delayed equestrian eventing, while Thai badminton player Pitchamon Opatniputh became the Games' first reported doping case.
- Who
- Indian Asian Games rowers, including Arvind Singh, Balraj Panwar, Saurav Kumar, Vipul Satish, Nitin Kumar, Jaswinder Singh and other affected crew members; Thai badminton player Pitchamon Opatniputh was separately suspended.
- What
- Several Indian rowing crews were changed shortly before competition, while a Thai badminton player faced a provisional doping suspension.
- When
- The rowing changes were made on Monday, two days before competition was scheduled to begin on Wednesday; Pitchamon Opatniputh's sample was collected on September 17.
- Where
- The rowing dispute occurred at India's Asian Games camp in Aichi-Nagoya; the doping sample was collected in Nagoya, and equestrian eventing was scheduled in Tokyo.
- Why
- Officials cited team-management decisions and a rule allowing up to 50% of a crew to change during a medical emergency; rowers disputed the scale and basis of the changes.
Rowers' Claims
Officials' Position
Extent of the crew changes
Rowers' Claims
Rowers said they were removed from their preferred events, reserve athletes were inserted into first teams, and some crews may have been completely altered.
Officials' Position
A senior rowing official pointed to regulations permitting changes to 50% of a crew in a medical emergency.
Basis for the changes
Rowers' Claims
The athletes questioned the scale of the changes and said they occurred without the medical emergency described in the rule.
Officials' Position
The official account cited the medical-emergency provision, while management sources said efforts were being made to field the best possible teams.
Effect on the team
Rowers' Claims
Some rowers were reportedly deeply distressed, refused food and discussed not training.
Officials' Position
An official acknowledged that some athletes were not in good mental shape and said efforts were underway to resolve the situation and hold practice.
- Affected competition
- Asian Games rowing
- Timing of changes
- Monday, two days before the scheduled Wednesday rowing competition
- Major reassignment
- Arvind Singh moved from men's single sculls to quadruple sculls; Balraj Panwar moved from quadruple sculls to single sculls
- Reported athlete response
- Some rowers reportedly had not eaten, and some discussed skipping Tuesday training
- Rule in dispute
- A senior rowing official said up to 50% of a crew may be changed during a medical emergency
- Typhoon disruption
- Typhoon Dujuan led organizers to postpone equestrian eventing from Monday to Tuesday
- Doping case
- Pitchamon Opatniputh was provisionally suspended after an adverse analytical finding for furosemide from an out-of-competition sample collected September 17
