A sidelined sport: Rowing changed this boy’s life, and he wants to change more

Manoucheher is one of the three young rowers to participate in the Youth Olympic Games.

KARACHI: Rowing is, what young Manoucheher Siddiqui calls, an unsung sport, but it has changed his life for the better.

“Rowing is the one thing that brought discipline into my life,” he smiled. “I have to be at Karachi Boat Club at 6am, even on Sundays. We train six days a week for three hours in the morning and three hours in the evening.”



Manoucheher is one of the three young rowers from Pakistan selected to participate in the Youth Olympic Games. Hassan Currimbhoy from Karachi and Abdul Rehman from Lahore are the other two selected. Although the participants did not make it to the Olympics, it is, nevertheless, an achievement for Pakistan that they made it to the qualification event held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan and managed to win a position.

“Walking to our positions in our official uniforms with the Pakistan flag emblazoned on our chests and the crowd cheering made us feel so proud,” Manoucheher’s recalled proudly. “By concentrating purely on just one sport in the country [cricket], Pakistan may be on the verge of losing an opportunity to succeed at one more sport.”



Manoucheher joined his school rowing team in 2006 at the Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS). Since then, he has participated and won numerous events, both at home and abroad, including India, Philippines and most recently in Uzbekistan.

Young Olympics games

The young rower, who is an A’ Levels student, explained that they participated in a 2,000-metre race for the first time in the Olympics qualification. The China Creek in Karachi, where they practised most often, is only 1,750 metres. Everything about the Olympics event was electronic - from the locked boats and electronic start to the video finish for fair results. Rowing those 2,000 metres, he felt, was the hardest thing he had ever done.

At the events in Samarkand, the trio from Pakistan missed Asghar, the rowing coach from Karachi Boat Club, when they came last in the first two races. Ikram, the rowing head at the boat club, arrived just in time to see where the boys were failing: they were putting all their strength in the beginning of the race and, consequently, losing stamina towards the end of the race. Had it not been for him, the boys might have continued to lose.

Finance needed

Even Asghar admitted the rowers are not given any financial support when they participate in international events, even when they represent the country. All expenses, including travel and lodging, are paid for personally by each participant, he pointed out.



Asghar was affiliated with the Sindh Rowing Association from 1992, but after the association closed down in 2000, he joined KBC as a trainer. He explained that the Pakistan Rowing Federation is the national governing body for rowing but it hardly works. “When we invite government representatives to our events, they attend and even give the winners small tokens of appreciation,” he said. “However, supporting the sport at national and international levels is something they have never offered to do.”

Ray of hope

Asghar felt that Karachi puts in maximum effort for the advancement of the sport. Although Punjab has professional teams, such as the Pakistan Army and Pakistan International Airlines, there is no investment in the quality of boats and equipment.



According to Manoucheher, there is growing awareness in schools about the sport. To show their support, schools are very accommodating if events coincide with exams, he said. The boat club also actively pursues improvement in the sport and is the proud owner of 35 world-class Italian and Chinese boats.

The coach and participants are of the opinion that until the rowing federation steps up and provides the necessary training, promotional and financial support, the sport will not grow any further despite the immense talent.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th, 2014.