Telangana State Open Sailing Championships concludes

Hyderabad: The four day Telangana State Open Sailing Championships concluded here in city on Wednesday. It has received 45 entries from 6 states - Goa, Telangana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.

HMDA Metropolitan Commissioner Dr Chiranjeevulu was the Chief Guest and gave away the prizes. Dadi Bhote, Vice President of Telangana Sailing Association, Anil Desai, member of the Association, Brig G.S. Julka, Dr. P. Rajaram graced the awards function.

“I am proud to declare that we have finished two State level championships in a row and the attendance from across the nation has tripled this year. I congratulate all the medal winners,” said Lt. Gen KS Rao, the President of the State Sailing Association.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Chiranjeevulu said Hussain Sagar lake is one of the attractions of the 400 plus year old Hyderabad city. No other city can boast of a lake in the middle of the city like Hyderabad. It is a huge challenge to maintain the Hussain Sagar Lake which is spread over 5.7 square kilometers. Sailing is equally a tough sport. Many are afraid of water. It needs lot of courage and conviction to be a sailor. Hope these championships will produce some world class sailors in near future, he said.

He gave away the awards to the Champions who include K. Gautam, M Sai Baba and M. Koteshwar Rao of Telangana state bagged Bronze, Silver and Gold respectively in State Junior Champion under 18 years. Ajay Singh Rajput of INWTC, Maharashtra who secured 19 points has won Overall Trophy Telangnaa Open Senior Champion in Senior Standards Category. In youth category Shekhar Singh Yadav of INWTC, Maharashtra with 43 points won Overall Trophy Telangana Open Radial Champion With No Age Restriction.

Tanishq Desai of Yatch Club of Hyderabad with 72 points bagged Overall Trophy Telangnaa State Champion. Shikhar Gard with 35 poins from NSS, Madhra Pradesh got Overall Trophy Telangana Open Youth Champion.

Among the Junior 4.7 category, Jushi Desai of Yacht Club of Hyderabad with 145 points adjudged as the Overall Trophy Telangana State Junior Girls Champion; Mahak Mankar of NSS from Madhya Pradesh with 81 points presented Overall Trophy Telangana Open Junior Girls Champion; M. Koteshwar Rao of Trishna Sailing Club, Karnataka with 69 points bagged Overall Trophy Telangana State Junior Champion and Ram Milan Yadav of NSS from Madhya Pradesh with 26 points walked away with Overall Trophy Telangana Open Junior Champion.

Earlier in the day, the last two races of the Telangana State Open Regatta in the Junior Category were sailed in mild winds with winds ranging from 8-12 knots only.

It was a foregone conclusion that Ram Milan Yadav was to win the Gold but the surprise was when Koteshwar Rao of Telangana shot into bronze after trailing across most of the racing. Koteshwar gets the bronze and also wins the coveted Telangana Junior Sailing Championship for 2017. Kotesh and Chitresh Thata of Tamil Nadu got a win each to reach a podium finish in the Open with Chitesh bagging the silver in the open.

Local lads Masti Saibaba and Gautham Kankatla won the Silver and Bronze medals in at the Telangana State Junior Sailing Regatta. Saibaba was placed 4th at the beginning of race 10 but two bad races had him out of the medal race in the open category and he was pipped to the gold by Koteshwar Rao who displayed splendid form.

Koteshwar Rao has a brilliant start and took a 30 boat length lead to win the last race of the series giving him the State gold and the Junior Telangana State Trophy.

In the senior category Ajay Singh Rajput and Avinash Yadav finished with Gold and Silver and Lim John of Trishna Sailing Club Karnataka, rose to the occasion to pip compatriot GCK Reddy to the bronze.