Korea grabs 3 Olympic rowing berths

Korea’s national rowing team secured three tickets to the London Olympics yesterday.

At the Asian qualifiers for the Summer Games held at the Tangeum Lake International Rowing Arena in Chungju, North Chungcheong, host Korea earned berths in the men’s and women’s single sculls and women’s lightweight coxless double sculls.

With six passes to London up for grabs, Kim Dong-yong finished in a time of 7 minutes and 11.5 seconds in the men’s single sculls to mark third place, while Kim Ye-ji was runner-up in the women’s single sculls after clocking 7:52.29.

In the women’s doubles, Kim Myung-shin and Kim Sol-ji earned one of three tickets to the Olympics after finishing second.

Japan swept three of four events, leaving only the men’s single sculls title for India.

The qualifiers began last Thursday with 217 rowers from 23 Asian countries fighting for 17 passes to the Summer Games. Korea and Japan each collected three, while India, Iran, Kazakhstan and Hong Kong earned two. Vietnam, Thailand and Taiwan earned one.

Chungju hosted the event as a warm-up for next year’s worlds.