Upcoming Salman Khan (Army) and comeback-man Dattu Bhokanal (Maharashtra) pulled away the general focus of the 'Services-Army battle' with brilliant performances to reach the finals of the men's single Sculls event in the 24th Open Sprint National at the Army Rowing Node, CME, on Saturday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
As a result, both the 2022 National champion Salman and 2018 Rio Olympian Dattu ended up proving that they too can be the best on a given day.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Haryana-born Salman, standing tall at 6 feet 5 inches, pushed out a 1 minute 36.8 seconds effort to cut short Satnam Singh's (1:40.8s) run over the 500-meter sprint in the first semifinal.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In the second semifinal, Dattu registered the best timing of the two semifinals clocking 1:31.7s to give Maharashtra hope on the morrow. Dattu pushed aside the challenge of Tokyo Olympian Arvind Singh (Services) who managed 1:32.7s to set up an interesting final that will determine the fastest of the meet.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
With the event pushing late into the evening and races still to be completed, powerhouses Services made it to 4 finals, namely the Single Sculls (M1X), Coxless Fours (M4-), Double Sculls (M2X) and will have the Army to challenge them.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The other events where Services ensured their presence in the finals were the LightWeight Double Sculls (LM2X) wherein the Arjun Lal Jat and Ajay Tyagi pair clocked 1:29.1s.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In the women's section, Kerala, Manipur and Haryana occupied places in three finals each to make it an open section.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Maharashtra overall had a good day in office. With Dattu setting the pace, the Coxless Pairs duo of Tejas Shinde and Omkar Mhaske (1:28.1s) took pole position. The effort by the Bombay Engineer Group and Centre pair was the best timing of their event. The other semifinal winners Punit Kumar and Ashish (Services) had 1:31.2s to their name.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Maharashtra eves also booked two spots in the finals with second-place finishes in their semifinals. In Single Sculls Mrunmayee Salgaokar (1:52.7s) was placed behind Uttar Pradesh (Kirandevi; 1:51.5s), while in the Coxless Pairs Komal Bodke and Bhagyashri Chavan (1:50.7s) finished behind Kerala duo Devapriya and Arundathi YJ 1:49.4s.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Maharashtra overall had a good day in office. With Dattu setting the pace, the Coxless Pairs duo of Tejas Shinde and Omkar Mhaske (1:28.1s) took pole position. The effort by the Bombay Engineer Group and Centre pair was the best timing of their event. The other semifinal winners Punit Kumar and Ashish (Services) had 1:31.2s to their name.<\/p>\r\n\r\n