Hyderabad: Of the 15 girls who are taking part in the sixth edition of the Monsoon Regatta that is currently underway, eight are from Hyderabad. Among them is 14-year-old Ananya Chouhan, who won the best national Topper Class Championship on Thursday. The Class IX student of Gitanjali Devshala has been training for more than a year now.
Ananya, who is now ranked third in India, says that her first national tournament in 2012 gave her confidence after she finished 33 out of 60.
A proud father, Pranay Chouhan, who accompanies Ananya at the Sailing Annexe, says, “She is aiming for the next Asian Games and Olympics 2020. And we are behind her because she is able to manage her studies and sailing. She stands first in class and she was also recently appointed the sports captain. As for sailing, she is here at Husain- sagar every day, practising for one hour.”
Meanwhile, 11-year-old Juhi Desai might be the youngest girl in The Yacht Club of Hyderabad but when she is in the waters, she is a force to reckon with. When the Class VII student of DPS Secunderabad started off two years ago, she was underweight, at just 23 kg. She, nevertheless, conquered the waters.
“I love water sports and I dedicate my weekends to sailing. My brother Tanishq, who is a Topper Class player, and I train together. When you are out in the water you need to be aggressive and need to have lot of stamina,” says Juhi, who has participated in Kerala, Maharashtra and Malaysia and aims to become among the top five sailors in India.
Drishya Mani, 16, also faced the problem of being underweight when she took up sailing last year on the 4.7 Laser nationals championship. “I was 45 kg then and remain 45 kg even now. But I know how to handle the boat better this year,” says Drishya, who is raring to get the same title this year.
“Last year, when the competition was on 26th, I started training on the 10th and I was still able to hold my fort if not win it. This year, I am far more confident,” she adds.
But for most of them sailing is not about competitiveness as much as it is about larger lessons and bigger goals.
For 15-year-old Nikita Nair, this is her first regatta experience. She says, “I think it also effects the general public subconsciously when the water is used for such activities. People will see what it provides and are less likely to litter or spoil the lake.”
Drishya adds, “If we popularise the sport more, we could use this kind of awareness to conserve water bodies further.”
