Tokyo, Japan, April 23, 2024: Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan were the big winners with each country winning three quota places for Paris 2024 at the Asian Canoe Sprint Championships at the venue used for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Kazakhstan won three Olympic licences in double-boat events while Uzbekistan clinched three single-boat quota spots.
Sergey Yemelyanov and Timur Khaidarov overcame Japan’s Masato Hashimoto and Ryo Naganuma to earn a men’s C2 500 Olympic quota for Kazakhstan.
There was further delight for Kazakhstan in the men’s K2 500, with Bekarys Ramatulla and Sergii Tokarnytskyi beating teams from China and Korea in the final.
The third quota place for Kazakhstan was won by Mariya Brovkova and Rufina Iskakova in the women’s C2 500 event.
Also winning a quota place in the double-boat events was Chinese pair Yu Shimeng and Chen Yule in the women’s K2 500.
Uzbekistan’s three Olympic berths in the single-boat events were won by Nilufar Zokirova in the women’s C1 200, Ekaterina Shubina in the women’s K1 500 and Shakhriyor Makhkamov in the men’s K1 1000.
Others to win Olympic quota places were Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Huong (women’s C1 200), Iranian duo Ali Aghamiraeijenaghrad (men’s K1 1000) and Mohammed Nabi Rezaei (men’s C1 1000), Lai Kuan-chieh of Chinese Taipei (men’s C1 1000) and Singapore’s Stephenie Chen (women’s K1 500).
