Govardhan, Thanuja triumph at Telangana State Sailing Championships

Hyderabad: India No.1 Govardhan Pallara from Hyderabad was positioned overall second just before the last of the 9 races series in the sub juniors and was about to be trounced by arch rival and compatriot Deekshita when during the last leg he moved up from 4th to 1st and Deekshita dropped from 2nd to 14th in a never before dramatic windshift at the Telangana State Sailing Championship here on Saturday

Govardhan was declared State Sub Junior Champion and Deekshita runners up. Both are also respec-tively ranked India No. 1 and 2 at the end of their careers in the Sub Junior Optimist Class by the Na-tional Federation.

“I have never sailed a more challenging championship ever and was lucky in the last race to win and it was Deekshita’s bad luck that the wind shifted so badly in my favour,” said Govardhan on his trium-phant return to shore alongside Deekshita who was placed second overall.

“I have rarely seen a sailor of such acumen in my career as a coach for Telangana,” said Suheim Sheikh the President of the Telangana Sailing Association

Shravan Kathravath, a tribal boy from Nalgonda continued his string of wins and has been declared the State Boys Junior Champion with no challenge from any quarter and does not need to sail the last race tomorrow.

The star of the day and the entire State Championships was however Thanuja Kameshwar of Udbhav School Hyderabad who hit a hat trick with three state championship golds on the Double handed Skiff Class, the Double hander Dinghy Class and the ILCA 4 single hander this evening .

Thanuja Kameshwar will be the most decorated sailor of Telangana at the state championships to be concluded tomorrow and she does not need to take part in the last race scheduled.

Shantha Sinha Padmashri , Magsaysay awardee and erstwhile chairperson of the child welfare com-mission gave away a few prizes at a ceremony with all the children and parents present.

The final prize giving is scheduled at the Yacht Club of Hyderabad at Sanjivaiah Park later in the day and Shri Jayesh Ranjan, IAS will preside over the function .