Paralympics 2024 Rowing: Anita-Narayana finish 8th, Australia win gold

Indian para-rowers Anita and Narayana Konganapalle concluded their Paralympics campaign in Paris on a decent note on Sunday.

They finished eighth out of 11 teams in the PR3 Mixed Double Sculls category.

The pair clocked 8:16.96s in the Final B, securing second place in the race and eighth overall in the rankings.

After narrowly missing out on a spot in Final A (medal rounds) by finishing third in the repechage round, where they needed to finish in the top two to advance, the Indian duo competed in Final B.

They completed the repechage round in 7:54.33s, finishing only ahead of Mexico.

In the Final B, Anita and Narayana faced competition from the USA, Mexico, Egypt, and Thailand.

The United States of America finished first in the race, taking seventh place overall with a time of 7:48.38s, while Mexico, Egypt, and Thailand finished third, fourth, and fifth, respectively.

In the final ranking, Mexico were ranked ninth, Egypt 10th, and Thailand 11th.

This is India's first-ever participation in para-rowing at the Paralympic Games.

Ankita and Narayana qualified for the event by finishing first at the World Rowing Asian and Oceanian Paralympic Qualification 2024 in South Korea. The pair is also the 2022 Para Asian Games silver medalist.

Australia won the gold for clocking 7:26.74s. Great Britain and Germany won the silver and bronze medals by clocking 7:28.19s and 7:28.31s.

The Australian team set a Paralympic Games Best (PGB) time of 7:11.30 in the heats.