Paris Olympics 2024: Meet Balraj Panwar, aka 'MS Dhoni of Indian rowing,' who reached men's singles sculls quarterfinals

Rower Balraj Panwar pulled off a clinical performance to qualify for the quarter-finals in men's rowing at the Paris Olympics on Sunday. India's sole representative in the event, Balraj, finished second in the repechages of men's single sculls by clocking 7:12.41s.

Balraj, who hails from Haryana, got off to a quick start and led in the beginning stages of the event. At the halfway mark, Balraj continued to give Monaco's rower Quentin a tough time.

With the final 200m left, the race continued to heat up, with Balraj and Quentin overtaking each other for the top finish.

Monaco's rower eventually overtook Balraj and finished at the top with a timing of 7:10.00s. Indonesian rower La Memo settled for the third spot by clocking 7:19.60s.

On the opening day, Balraj had the opportunity to secure his spot in the quarter-finals however, he got off to a shaky start in his Olympic campaign.

In the first heat race of the men's single sculls, Balraj clocked 7:07:11s to finish in the fourth spot out of six competitors in his heat. Only three players from each heat race could make it to the quarterfinals directly.

In heat one, New Zealand's Thomas Mackintosh finished in the number one spot with timings of 6:55.92s. Greece rower Stefanos Ntouskos earned second place with a time of 7:01.79s. Egypt's Abdelkhalek El-Banna, who clocked 7:05.06s, settled for the third position.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from ANI)