Profile: Swarn Singh Virk
Swarn Singh Virk has to fill big shoes that of Bajrang Lal Takhar. It would be a tough challenge for Swarn Singh Virk when the rowing events begin.
Sport: Rowing
Age: 23
Event: Men's single sculls
About Swarn Singh Virk:
Swarn Singh Virk may have to step into some big shoes having qualified for the event, Rowing (single sculls), in which Bajrang Lal Takhar won the 2010 Asian Games gold medal but the 23-year old Punjab boy is up for the challenge.
Typhoid may have hampered Bajrang's hopes as Swarn beat him in the qualifier but the motivation for him to perform, comes from none other than the Gold medalist himself.
Virk beat Chinese and Iranian counterparts to land an Olympic berth. It was only his fifth international race in which he achieved that.
Rowing competitions at the London Olympics are scheduled to be held from July 28 to August 4 at Eton Dorney Rowing Centre at Dorney Lake near Windsor Castle. 14 medal events will be contested by 550 athletes, 353 men and 197 women.
National coach Ismail Baig, a Dronacharya awardee himself, must be hoping against hope that Swarn springs up a surprise. A medal might be too much to expect but a decent performance would do a great deal in guiding future of rowing in India.
This is the fourth consecutive Olympics that India will be featuring in and that in itself is an achievement.
The Hussain Sagar Lake in Hyderabad may not be in the same league as the Dorney Lake at the Olympics but the practice in tough conditions might just prove to be beneficial.