Ukraine and Indonesia reigned supreme on the final day of Dragon Boat action at The World Games Chengdu 2025 with two gold medals.
The pouring rain at the Xinglong Lake Hubin Arena did the paddlers no favours, but it only seemed to fuel their determination as they powered through the choppy waters to claim victory.
The first final of the day was in the open eight-seater 200m, with the Indonesians setting the tone as they cruised to victory in 45.79.
It was a close battle with Thailand breathing down their necks, but they eventually settled for silver, 0.53 later, with bronze going to Chinese Taipei in 47.27.
In the mixed 10-seater 200m final, the Thai paddlers convincingly won the yellow metal. Their timing of 47.15 was 1.66 better than that of the hosts and silver medallists, China.
Ukraine, despite having a false start in the final, maintained their composure to take the bronze medal with a time of 48.85, which was a sign of things to come.
The Europeans found the extra gear in the open eight-seater 500m final, edging Indonesia by 0.18 and Thailand getting on the podium again with a third-place finish in 2:06.48.
Ukraine won the second title of the day in the mixed 10-seater 2000m, showing their prowess in speed and endurance.
With a timing of 9:19.87, they once again beat the Indonesians while Spain got the bronze medal in 9:23.84.
“It was amazing. We are really happy about this. We worked hard, and I want to thank my coach and, of course, my team,” Ukrainian crew member Buraho Olha said.
“We spent two weeks in China to train and got acclimatised to the conditions. I think that helped us. We have been training for one year and are like a family now.
“Thank you, China, for this great competition. It was amazing. Thanks to all other teams for making it hard and pushing us.”
Indonesia, however, finished top of the Dragon Boat medals table with their second gold of the day and third overall, when they finished first in the mixed 10-seater 500m final.
In this race too, it was between them and the Ukrainians, underlining the strengths of both crews.
Indonesia took gold in 2:06.64, with Ukraine taking silver 0.38 later and bronze going to Thailand in 2:07.80.
“We are very happy and proud of our results. This is a very tough competition. Physically and strategically, all these teams are great, and we should find a way to be on the same level,” Indonesian coach Mohammed Suryadi said.
“It was very interesting for us, and we gave it our best. I think we worked well together as a team, and we are pleased with the results.”
Copyright by IWGA/The World Games 2025.
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