Asia Oceania Olympic Qualifiers: Arjun Jat, Arvind Singh earn Tokyo Olympics rowing berth; NOC ruling costs Jakar Khan

The Indian pair of Arjun Jat and Arvind Singh qualified for the Tokyo Olympics after finishing second in the men’s Double Sculls event final at the Asian Oceania Olympic Rowing Qualifications Regatta in Tokyo on Friday.

However, it was heart-breaking for Jakar Khan in the men’s Single Sculls event final. Despite finishing fourth, Khan couldn’t qualify for the Tokyo Olympics as the NOC can earn a maximum of one quota unless the rower finishes in the top two of the event.

Already in the final thanks to their to second-place finish in the heats, the Indian duo held onto the momentum to finish in 6.36:92s, behind winners Japan. The Japanese pair of Naoki Furuta and Mitsuo Nishimura took first place clocking 6.34:70s.

Indian duo of Arjun Jat and Arvind Singh qualify for Rowing men’s doubles sculls event for #Tokyo2020 with second place finish at the Asia Oceania Continental Regatta event pic.twitter.com/dt72IDOHFv

— SAIMedia (@Media_SAI) May 7, 2021

Shakhboz Kholmurzaev and Sobirjon Safaroliyev of Uzbekistan finished third in the Final A to round off the Tokyo Olympics qualification list in the event. The Uzbek duo finished in 6.38:27s. It is to be noted that the Final B race is for those who have been relegated before.

Jakar Khan's fourth-place finish in final wasn't enough

Earlier, Khan, who made it to the semifinals from Heat 3 didn’t disappoint in the men’s Singles Sculls event's last-four stage. He clocked 7.21.56s behind Japanese Ryuta Arakawa in the semifinal A/B 2 to make it to the summit clash.

With the top five in the final qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics, Khan did no wrong finishing fourth with a timing of 7.10:42s. However, luck wasn’t on his side as the NOC ruling cost him a Tokyo Olympics berth.

Men’s lightweight double sculls pair of Arjun Jat and Arvind Singh become India's first set of rowers to qualify for Tokyo Olympics after securing berth at the Asia Oceania Continental Regatta event pic.twitter.com/P7m0SIZIwt

— Sportskeeda India (@Sportskeeda) May 7, 2021

In the women’s Singles Sculls event, India’s Khushpreet Kaur finished fifth in the semifinals to lose out on a Tokyo Olympics quota place. She clocked 8.33:23s. Earlier, Khushpreet made it to the semifinals after finishing second in the Repechage round with timing of 9.10.38s.

Meanwhile, the Indian women's Double Sculls pair of Vindhya Sankath and Rukmani put themselves out of contention for a Tokyo Olympics quota place after finishing fourth in the Repechage round, clocking 8:28.75s on Thursday.