Vaires-sur-Marne, Jul 30 (IANS): India’s sole rowing athlete at the Olympics, Balraj Panwar eliminated from medal contention after finishing fifth in the men’s single scull fourth quarterfinal on Tuesday at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.

The 25-year old finished fifth with a timing of 7:05.10 which was insufficient to make him qualify for the medal rounds of the competition. He will now take part in the C/D semifinals of the event, which will see him fight for a final ranking between 13th-24th place.

Polish athlete,Yauheni Zalatoy representing the Athlètes Individuels Neutres (AIN) finished first with a time of 6:49.27 in the quarterfinal event.

Balraj had carved his way to the quarterfinals after finishing fourth in the first heat with a time of 7:07.11 and finishing second in Repechage 2 with a time of 7:12.41.

Quarterfinal 4 results:

Yauheni Zalatoy (AIN) - 6:49.27 (Qualified for Semifinal A/B)

Giedrius Bieliauskas (Lithuania) - 6:51.80 (Qualified for Semifinal A/B)

Ryuta Arakawa (Japan) - 6:54.17 (Qualified for Semifinal A/B)

Kristian Vasilev (Bulgaria) - 6:58.67 (Qualified for Semifinal C/D)

Balraj Panwar (India) - 7:05.10 (Qualified for Semifinal C/D)

Abdelkhalek Elbanna (Egypt) - 7:18.59 (Qualified for Semifinal C/D)