Asian Games gold medallist rower and Olympian Dattu Baban Bhokanal’s two-year ban, imposed on him on April 30, 2019, has been lifted by the Rowing Federation of India (RFI). This paves the way for India’s top rower to participate in the Olympic Qualification Regatta in April.
The RFI had banned Bhokanal, who was a member of the men’s quadruple sculls team that won gold at 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, for pulling out of the single sculls race midway earlier in the Games. Bhokanal, who was the lone rower representing India in the 2016 Rio Olympics, was in the wilderness for over eight months and his ban was set to end on April 30, 2021.