Telangana State Sailing Championship: Shikar, Shekar rule waves on opening day
Hyderabad: There were light to medium winds during the morning races but a 25-knot storm blew across the Hussainsagar lake during the afternoon session flattening most of the fleet into the water rising up with waves as the Telangana State Open Sailing Championship kicked off on Sunday.
The milder morning session saw Shikar Garg of Madhya Pradesh and Shekhar Yadav of Maharashtra dominate the racing in the Laser Radial. In the four races sailed Garg got two wins and a second and Yadav came in second with just one win and a second.
“I was leading in the second race but unfortunately capsized in the middle of a heavy gust and lost upto 12 positions. I would have got two wins and leading the series had it not been for that,” said Shekhar Yadav of Maharashtra, a Naval Sailor from Mumbai.
The afternoon saw the Junior and Senior fleets battling heavy weather conditions brought about by a storm leading to winds capping at 25-28 knots and many capsize even before the racing started.
It was close racing between Vivin Vinil of Maharashtra and Koteshwar Rao of Telangana who took the first and second positions in the Junior category in the first race. Mahesh Balachander was consistent and came in overall second after two races. Ram Milan Yadav, winner of the Hyderabad Sailing Week, had a tough day but recovered to stay at the third position overall with 9 points, just two behind the leaders.
In the senior category Ajay Singh Rajput of the Navy dominated with some great starts and intense physical hiking and kept his boat flat out in the storm to get one win and a second position to be at the top with 3 points. He is closely followed by Lim John and GCK Reddy of Trishna Sailing Club from Karnataka.
The four-day regatta is being organised by the Telangana Sailing Association (TSA). It is the official State Championship organised in association with Telangana Tourism and Enerzal.
The Results
n Juniors — Laser 4.7: 1. Vivin Vinil (Maharashtra) 7 points, 2. Mahesh Balachander (Tamil Nadu) 7 points, 3. Ram Milan Yadav (Madhya Pradesh) 9 points.
n Youth — Laser Radial: 1. Shikar Garg (Madhya Pradesh) 9 points, 2. Shekhar Yadav (Maharashtra) 19 points, 3. Avinash Yadav (Maharashtra) 20 points.
n Senior — Laser Standard: 1. Ajay Singh Rajput (Maharashtra) 3 points, 2. Lim John (Karnataka) 6 points, 3. GCK Reddy (Andhra Pradesh) 7 points.
