A 20-member Indian squad, including two women from Odisha, bagged two silver and as many bronze medals in the 28th Paolo D`Aloja Memorial International Regatta held at Piediluco in Italy from April 11 to 13.

According to Rowing Federation of India secretary general M V Sriram, Dushyant Dushyant secured one silver and one bronze in men`s light-weight single scull, while the women`s team, featuring Odisha`s Manjula Xess, won one silver and one bronze in 2000m quadruple sculls. Varghese Dittymol, Khumanthem Monalisha Chanu and Thangjam Chaoba Devi were other three members medal winning women`s quartet.

Manjula, a trainee of SAI Water Sports Centre, Jagatpur (Cuttack) credited her success to coach Jose Jacob. M Amusana Devi, another trainee from the Jagatpur centre, took part in women`s light-weight singles scull category of the two-day meet, which served as a run-up to the Asian Games.

``In the European rowing circuit this championship was one of the ‘first break in regattas’ after the long winter break and as many as 28 countries from Europe, US, Africa and Asia participated,`` said Sriram.
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PHOTO: Medal winning Odisha woman rower Manjula Xess