Zhiwei Deng Wins Single Sculls Gold as Balraj Panwar Finishes Fourth

Zhiwei Deng of China won gold in the men's single sculls at the Asian Games 2026, while India's Balraj Panwar narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing fourth at the Nagaragawa International Regatta Course.

Deng clocked 6:38.98 to take gold, with Uzbekistan's Shakhboz Kholmurzaev claiming silver in 6:41.83 and Japan's Tatsuya Sakurama taking bronze in 6:46.78. Panwar was in the silver medal position at the halfway mark and held second place through the 1,500m checkpoint, but was overtaken by both Kholmurzaev and Sakurama in the final 500m, finishing in 6:54.80, just under 16 seconds behind the gold medallist.

India's last Asian Games medal in the men's single sculls came at Incheon 2014, when Sawarn Singh won bronze; Bajrang Lal Thakkar remains the only Indian to win gold in the event, at Guangzhou 2010.