Telangana State Regatta Youth Trophy: It's smooth sailing for Shikar Garg

Hyderabad: Shikar Garg of Madhya Pradesh bagged the Telangana State Regatta Youth Trophy followed by compatriot Govind Bairagi in the open category, who at just 15 years bagged the silver.

The Race Committee decided to hold four back-to-back gruelling races at the Hussainsagar lake in the Youth Category that was being sailed in the Laser Radial Class to complete the mandated 12 races of the series.

Shikar secured two second positions and two No.4 spots but got the gold medal with ease with a total of 35 points. Govind finished with a silver while Karnataka’s Suresh got the silver in the Open Class.

Local lad Tanishq Desai bagged the State honours with a gold and finished sixth overall in the Open category, followed by Avula Nagarjuna of Trishna Sailing Club who took silver and Sanjay Reddy of Telangana Sports School who picked the bronze medal at the State Championships.

Shekhar Singh Yadav, a Naval sailor from Maharashtra finished overall second despite being the eldest in the fleet albeit the most experienced and who across weather conditions kept his boat flat and fast in the no-age-restrictions category ahead of much younger participants and gave young Shikhar a run for his money.

Mild to light weather conditions prevailed throughout the day and the senior and junior categories sailed in the afternoon and completed 10 races of the scheduled 12. Both categories will sail on Wednesday morning to decide on the final scores and medal tally. Ram Milan Yadav of Madhya Pradesh continued his winning streak with two wins in the afternoon and looks set for gold in the under 17 section. In the senior category, Ajay Singh Rajput is headed for gold followed by Avinash Yadav but it could just be quite another story in this weather dependent sport.

The Standings
n Youth Open — Laser Radial: 1. Shikar Garg (Madhya Pradesh, 35 points), 2. Govind Bairagi (Maharashtra, 43), 3. Suresh N (Karnataka, 45)
n Youth Telangana State — Laser Radial: 1. Tanishq Desai (72 points), 2. Avula Nagarjuna (104), 3. Sanjay Reddy (105)
n Juniors — Laser 4.7 (after 10 races): 1. Ram Milan Yadav (Madhya Pradesh, 15 points), 2. Mahesh Balachander (Tamil Nadu, 36), 3. Chitresh Thata (Tamil Nadu, 40)
n Senior — Laser Standard (after 10 races): 1. Ajay Singh Rajput (Maharashtra, 9 points), 2. Avinash Yadav (Maharashtra, 18), 3. GCK Reddy (Andhra Pradesh, 20)