The regatta organised by the Amateur Rowing Association of the East (ARAE) and Far East Amateur Rowing Association (FEARA) is to be held in Pune, India from the 14th to 16th of January, beginning the rowing season for the year.
The event which is to be held for the 74th time this year will feature approximately 118 participants from rowing clubs in India, Sri Lanka, Dubai, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Pakistan.
An 11 member crew from the Colombo Rowing Club (CRC) has left Sri Lankan shores to represent the country. CRC has a fantastic track record in the event, having been able to win gold on a number of occasions. They won the overall men’s category championship in 2014 and in 2015 the CRC ladies dominated proceedings while the men’s crew were pushed to second position by two points.
The men’s crew will compete in the scull, double scull, pair and four with a team for each at this year’s championship.
| Event | Participant |
| Scull (1X) | Saliya Gunasekara |
| Double scull (2X) | Pramod Rahaguru |
| Ahamad Mubarak | |
| Pair(2-) | Bilal Hassan |
| Sanjiva Jayasuriya | |
| Four (4-) | Bilal Hassan |
| Saliya Gunasekara | |
| Ahamad Mubarak | |
| Sanjiva Jayasuriya |
The Ladies crew has two teams for pairs, sculls and double sculls and a team for four.
| Event | Participant | |
| Scull (1X) | Ishara Abbey | Samaakhya Gajanayake |
| Double scull (2X) | Samaakhya Gajanayake | B A Sasanda |
| Janethri Marapana | Amani Tissera | |
| Pair(2-) | B A Sasanda | Janethri Marapana |
| Amani Tissera | Dilki Wijeysekera | |
| Four (4-) | Dilki Wijeysekera | |
| Samaakhya Gajanayake | ||
| Janethri Marapana | ||
| Ishara Abbey | ||
Samaakhya, Dilki and Janethri participated in the ARAE championships in Karachi in 2013, while Ahamad Mubarak from the University of Moratuwa and Sanjiva Jayasuriya from Royal College are two freshers in the men’s crew who have performed well in the past year. The elite crew that has been selected based on their performances in the past year is expected to perform well in Pune.
The Captain of CRC, Sanjay Mendis had this to say about his team’s chances at the championship,
“Colombo has been doing quite well in the past, this year we are taking a very young crew for a rotation, though they are freshers they have been performing very well under the guidance of coach Hiran Doranegama and we are hoping to perform well this year too”.
We wish team Colombo all the best. Stay tuned to ThePapare.com for more updates on this event.
