Preeti from Telangana bags gold at Asian Games Selection Trials

Hyderabad: Perseverance they say is the hallmark of success. Preethi Kongara (18) and Dharani Laveti (17) of Telangana have displayed grit beyond their years to clinch the Gold and Bronze at the recently held Senior Nationals and freshly Asian Games Selection Trials at Bombay Harbour.

Preethi Kongara of Telangana is now the undisputed Senior National Champion and incidentally was Junior National Champion in 2018.

The mixed 470 class of boats has been recently introduced at the Olympics and Asian Games. The girls at the Yacht Club of Hyderabad paired with men from the Indian Navy and with a year of intensive practice through the stormy Monsoons at Bombay have now dominated the class with two medals.

The wind conditions were light to medium, perfect for Preethi and her crew Sudanshu Shekhar of the Indian Navy while the heavier Dharani Laveti and Akshay Kulhat also of the Navy found the conditions a bit challenging.

This is the first time that Telangana had won two medals at a senior Nationals and it places the girls, especially Preethi, a step closer to representing India at the Asian Games at Hangzhou China in 2023

Preethi of Marredpally Government College won 6 races out of 12 and got 4 second positions to clinch Gold. The Silver went to Shraddha Verma and Ravindra Sharma of the Navy who put up a ferocious battle for Gold to tie in points but Preethi and Sudanshu with 6 wins against their 5 pipped them to Gold.

Dharani also at Marredpally Government College and Akshay, Navy with 41 points got the Bronze with a few good races gaining confidence with one second position and a few fourths.

With this unprecedented performance at the Senior National stage and the track record of the young sailors the Telangana Sailing Association is looking forward to assistance from the State government and any Corporate bodies to help take the sailors to International podiums.

"The girls are brimming with confidence and are all set to get to higher fitness levels for the second of three Asian Games Trials in January at the same venue when the winds are expected to be higher" said Suheim Sheikh their mentor and President of the Yacht Club at Hyderabad . "The road to the Asian Games or Olympics is still very tough with two more selection trials and a lot of hard work " , he added.

4 Telangana girls are in the top 7 clearly dominating the National 470 mixed class event.

Final Points Tally

Preethi Kongara, Sudanshu Shekhar Telangana/ Navy 15

Shraddha Verma, Ravindra Sharma Navy 15

Dharani Laveti, Akshay Kulhat Telangana / Navy 41

Uma Chauhan, CHS Reddy MP/Navy 42