Three oarswomen from Kerala to hunt medals for India in Asian Games

Three Malayali oarswomen – G Parvathy, Megha Pradeep and Aleena Anto - will compete for India in the upcoming Asian Games in Japan. Parvathy is taking part in Mixed Kayak Double 500 m, Women’s Kayak 4 500 and Women’s Kayak Double, Megha in Women’s Canoe Singles 200 m, Mixed Canoe Double 500 m and Women’s Canoe Double 500 m and Aleena in Rowing Women’s Four.

The Punnamada centre of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) in Alappuzha is the training area of the three members of India’s watersports team.

G Parvathy- Kayaking
Daughter of Sajeev and Geetha of Puthuvalveettil, Nehru Trophy ward in Alappuzha, G Parvathy started training in kayaking at Sports Council’s Vellayani centre in 2016, while she was a Class 9 student. She has been training at SAI centre in Alappuzha since 2022. Meanwhile, Parvathy has also been working with the Indian Navy, and was a member of India’s team for the previous Asian Games also. Parvathy secured gold medals in doubles and singles at the Asia Cup Canoe Sprint Championship in 2025.

Megha Pradeep- Canoeing
Megha Pradeep is the first woman to find a place in the Kayak and Canoe team of the Indian Army. Megha, daughter of N Pradeep and Sreekala of Puthenkalathil, Kuttanad in Alappuzha, started training in canoeing 11 years ago as a Class 5 student. Since 2017, she has been training at SAI centre in Alappuzha. Megha won a bronze in 500 m singles at the Asian Canoe Sprint Championship in 2024 and was the first Indian woman to enter the final of the 500 m singles at the Under-23 World Championship in 2025. She also secured the gold medal in 500 m singles and silver in 500 m doubles at Canoe Sprint Asian Games Test Event at Miyoshi city in Japan earlier this year.

Aleena Anto- Rowing
Aleena Anto started training at SAI centre in Alappuzha in 2018 while she was studying in Class 8. Daughter of Anto and Swapna of Peppethy, Alattil in Wayanad, Aleena has won medals for Kerala in three National Games. Training under a support programme of Inspire Institute of Sports, she secured a bronze at the Senior Asian Championship held in Vietnam in 2025. She is currently training at the Army Rowing Node in Pune under coach D V Ratheesh, who hails from Kozhikode.