Rowing in the spotlight: Participants gathering during the Pacu Jalur longboat race festival on the Kuantan river in Riau province. — AFP
Armed with colourful oars, rowers pack into long boats in western Indonesia, paddling furiously in front of race crowds swelled by the viral success of a young boy famous for his dancing at the front of the traditional vessels.
The annual Pacu Jalur race on Sumatra island culminated yesterday, with officials estimating as many as 100,000 more spectators this year because of 11-year-old Rayyan Arkan Dikha’s dance moves on the fast-moving boats.
