Borrowed boat, troubling appeal: Kerala's three-medal win at games has a backstory

Goa: Rowing a borrowed boat, Kerala won three medals in the National Games. Meghana Pradeep and Akshaya Sunil made the state proud by clinching silver in the women’s C2 500-meter canoeing. G. Parvathy won the bronze for the K1 500-meter kayaking. She also won a bronze with Treesa in the K2 500-meter kayaking. The medals were won with a photo finish difference of microseconds.

The state entered the rowing competition without a boat. The medals were won by using a boat borrowed from the games committee. This, however, affects the performance of the candidates. 

The close competitor, Madhya Pradesh even made an appeal against the win stating that another team’s boat had been used but this was rejected. Although the state has a boat registered under the canoeing-kayaking association, it would cost Rs 1.5 lakh to bring this boat to Goa. This fund was not allocated by the sports council.

Kerala is in the ninth position in the tournament with 55 medals, including 15 gold, 19 silver, and 21 bronze.