From turbulent Tigris to a podium finish

The 27-year-old reckons a better boat would have put him in closer contention. “Both your Indian and the Taipei guys have Europe-made boats,the Indian’s is German and the other’s from Italy. It makes a difference of at least 6-7 seconds,” says the 6’3” tall man,who finished almost 6 seconds behind Takhar.

India’s second gold-medal race thus,had an Iraqi audience added to the Indian billion. “Everyone was watching the race on TV. It means a lot to all the sportsmen from Iraq — knowing they can do it too,” he adds.

The enthusiast who started rowing 6 years ago,after 5 summers in a kayak along the Tigris hopes to take his sport to the next level in coming years. “I used to be a body builder once,and when the war happened,and bombings started,I’d completely stopped training. That’s when I went back to body building and improved on my strength,” he says.

“Now I lead the perfect rower’s life,” he smiles. A ride on the bicycle for 12-13 minutes,and he’s at the river banks and at the smallish boat-club where he trains for hours on end all by himself,at others aided by his coach. “I want to take Iraqi rowing further,” Haeider says,even as their first Asiad medal gets scribbled on the sandy banks of the Tigris — Iraq’s first of the 2010 edition.