Telangana sailors put up an impressive show in the recently-held Mysore Junior National-ranking regatta at Krishnaraja Sagara Dam by winning 12 medals, the highest by any State in this category, according to Suheim Sheikh, head coach of Yacht Club of Hyderabad.
“K. Deekshita trounced the opposition and finished overall third across genders in a 39-sailor fleet, and had it not been for a few disastrous mistakes she would have finished in the second position,” Suheim added.
“The gifted sailor is now the National girls champion and India No. 1 in the under-15 Optimist Class, a feat three girls before her from Telangana have accomplished. Preethi Kongara, Jhansi Laveti and Ravali Parandi,” the proud coach explained.
Lahiri, Deekshita’s sister, settled for a bronze, and both the sisters from Udbhav School are better positioned to do well in the Junior Nationals to be held in Mumbai in October. They are gunning for No. 1 and 2 rankings with a few more years to go for the younger Lahiri, Suheim said.
In the 420 Mixed and Open Classes, the Monsoon Regatta Champions skipper Dharani Laveti and crew V. Mallesh Vadla won nine straight races out of 11, leaving no doubts in anybody’s mind as to who rules the International 420 Class in India.
Telangana’s Thanuja Kameshwar and Shravan were able to clinch only one win and a string of second positions to settle for silver. Both the sailors also won the gold and silver in the Open Class, the YCH head coach said.
Banny Bongur, Daniel Rajkumar and Mohammad Rizwan, also of Telangana, have moved up in their ranking at the Mysore Nationals giving the state an edge at the forthcoming Junior Nationals.
Nine-year-old Gowtham Yadav, the youngest boy, was given a special award. Dharani, Thanuja and the crew were given two golds and two silvers as they won two championships in the Mixed and Open categories.
“We take pride in informing you that Telangana produced 150 medallists across years and this year in specific has been very promising in the International 420 Class and the Optimist Classes”, said a proud Dadi Bhote, President of the Telangana Sailing Association.
