New Delhi, Sept. 24 -- When Satnam Singh and Salman Khan departed for the Asian Games, they were pencilled in for quadruple sculls along with Jakar Khan and Balraj Panwar. However, following the controversial rejig of team combinations, the duo was sent to compete in double sculls in place of Navdeep Singh and Kulwinder Singh. Unfazed, they delivered a bronze medal in Nagaragawa International Regatta Course on Thursday - India's first in the event - clocking 6:13.25 minutes.

Chinese pair of Yi Xudi-Nie Yide won gold with a time of 6:09.77 followed by Uzbekistan's Mamatkulov Mekhrojbek and Sorin Pavel (6:10.49). The Satnam-Salman pair was in second place till the 1,500m-mark but fell to third in the final 500m.

"I won't say we were not a...