Pune: Ajay Tyagi will look to put on display his variety and utility to the Indian team management when he competes in the men’s lightweight single scull at the World Rowing Championships in Amstelveen, the Netherlands, next week.The 27-year-old Army oarsman had competed largely in lightweight double scull and quadruple scull, winning gold and silver respectively at the Asian Championships in Vietnam last year.But, having been named as a reserve in India’s rowing squad for the Asian Games, the Naib Subedar with the Bombay Engineers Group will be keen to make the most of the opportunity in Amstelveen to stake a claim for an entry in Japan.“We had a 20-day training camp in Belgium. Our preparation has been good and I am feeling confident now,” Tyagi told The Times of India.The Rowing Federation of India fielded Rohit, who was not among the original squad for the Asian Games and the preceding international championships, with Ujjwal Singh in the double scull after Lakshay tested for a banned substance in May.Lakshay and Ujjwal had won India’s first ever gold at a World Cup in this year’s third instalment of the event in Switzerland in June, but that blemished medal now stands rescinded.But Tyagi will take heart from the fact that the team management, under Australian coach Antony Patterson, has kept an open mind with regard to the final combination to be entered at the continental showpiece in Aichi-Nagoya, Sep 19-Oct 4. The Ghaziabad rower did himself no harm when he was fielded in the men’s eight event at World Cup 3 in Lucerne.India had fielded the team at the last minute after accepting a late offer from World Rowing and the men, although finishing last, ran Asian powerhouse China close.“We had a team that had two reserves and a sculler as the cox,” said Balaji Maradappa, Rowing Federation of India president, referring to the fact that eight is a sweep event.“We did it because the eight is an Olympic event and we need to know where we stand keeping in mind our preparation for LA (2028).”The men clocked 5 minutes 57.49 seconds, while the Chinese were second last in an event of eight teams in 5:50.04.
