Kolkata, Mar 18:
Clubs from Thailand and Australia would be among the competitors in the 80th Amateur Rowing Association of the East (ARAE) and Far East Amateur Rowing Association (FEARA) championship that begins from Monday at the Rabindra Sarobar here.
Thailand Rowing Club (Pattaya) and Melbourne-based Mercantile Rowing Club are the first time participants in the six-day meet on the 560 mts course in south Kolkata, the organisers Lake Club said on Sunday.
Apart from the hosts, the other Indian entrants are Calcutta Rowing Club, Bengal Rowing Club and Madras Boat Club, College of Engineering, Pune.
Lake Club is the reigning champions, club president Raja Dasgupta told reporters.
Some 250 rowers, both men and women, will beseen in action during the March 18-23 meet where the competitions are open to men, women and mixed category. For open, sub-junior ( below 15 years),masters (above 36 years) , super masters ( above 50 years) and grand masters (above 60 years) are the various age categories.
Vice president ofthe Asian Rowing Federation and Rear Admiral P. Pochanasomburana of Thailand will inaugurate the meet on Monday. He along with his wife are also contestants on behalf of Thailand, Dasgupta said.
Among the noted oars persons, who would stake their claim for the top honours are Siddharta Sunil of Chennai , Pratik Gupta and Sweta Bramhachari of West Bengal.
Veteran oarsman Shakeel Ahmed said the championship would be conducted maintaining all safety norms for Regatta and equipment, as has been jointly worked out with Kolkata Police and KMDA for rowing on Rabindra Sarobar.
