15th Monsoon Regatta 2024: Telangana’s Govardhan consolidates lead

Hyderabad: Govardhan Pallara of Telangana stole the limelight with some spectacular nail biting finishes in a tumultuous day as the largest fleet of the 15th Monsoon Regatta sailed in the Optimist Class sub-junior fleet at Hussain Sagar in Hyderabad on Tuesday. Shreya Krishna of Tamilnadu dropped to overall third and Aakash Tangai of TSC Mysore magically rose to 2nd at the end of Day 2 with two wins.

All fleets completed a total of 5 races of this 12-race Monsoon Regatta leaving the field still wide open.

The weather provided for stronger winds on day 2 ranging from 7 to 15 knots testing the all round capability of the youngsters.

Three races were sailed and Govardhan won the second race and sailed 8 and 4 in the first and third solidifying his lead in a fleet of 39 sailors from all over India. The Under 16 fleet is the largest and most competitive in the Monsoon Regatta.

Frail of physique but close to genius when it comes to strategy on the water, Govardhan Pallara a student of Udbhav School is the son of a driver and his mother is a housekeeper.

“Goverdhan Pallara is an unconventional sailor with an instinctive approach to the sport that helps him win. He has won the Nationals at Shillong in May, the recently concluded ranking regatta in Secunderabad and is currently at the top of the fleet,” said his coach Suheim Sheikh

“We have finished only 5 races and there are 7 more to go and while I am aware that anything can happen, I will be putting in my best,“ said a shy and diminutive Govardhan.

In the International 420 Mixed class, local pair Vaishnavi Veeravamsham & Shravan Kathravath of Telangana stole a march over closest rivals, also from Telangana Thanuja Kameshwar and Ganesh Peerkatla. Divyanshri Mishra and Crew were moved to the open class as they did not fit the age criteria for under 18.

In the Junior Skiffs 29er Doubles Class, Nikhil Mandavkar & Satyam Jha topped the leaderboard with Mallesh and Karthik also from Goa not far behind.

The ILCA 4 girls saw a shift with Alia Sabreen of Orissa winning both races sailed and Somya Singh of Madhya Pradesh having a bad day but is still a point ahead of Alia. Manya Reddy moves up to 3rd position.

In the ILCA4 Boys . Ekalavya Batham of NSS Madhya Pradesh remains on the top of the leaderboard flowed closely by Divaker Krishna of TSC Mysore.

Points Tally-Day 2

• Under 16 Optimist Class: Govardhan Pallara (TSA) Telangana 8, Aakash Tangai (TSC) Mysore 14, Shreya Krishna (RMYC) Tamilnadu 17.

• Under 18 29er Skiff Doubles: Nikhil Mandavkar & Satyam Jha (NBSC) Goa 5, Mallesh Gadham & Karthik Korrolla (NBSC) Goa 7, Ajay Yadav & Adiraj Yadav (NSS) MP 10.

• Under 18 International 420 Mixed Doubles: Vaishnavi Veeravamsham & Shravan Kathravath (TSA) Telangana 7, Thanuja Kameshwar & Ganesh Peerkatla (TSA) Telangana 9.

• Under 18 ILCA 4 Single Hander Girls: Somya Singh (NSS) Madhya Pradesh 5, Alia Sabreen (OYA) Orissa 6, Manya Reddy (SSC) Telangana 12.

• Under 18 ILCA 4 Single Hander Boys: Eklavya Batham (NSS) Madhya Pradesh 13, Krishna Divakar (TSC) Mysore 15, Ajay Gajji (NBSC) Goa 16.