HYDERABAD: BK Rout of Army Yatching Node (AYN) finally stopped the winning streak of Jasvir Singh (AYN) but not before the latter had posted his seventh successive win in Laser Standard in the Laser National Sailing Championship here on Thursday.
Rout clinched the honours in the eighth race while Jasvir, who came second in this race, has virtually won the overall championship title in this event.
In the Laser 4.7 event, 15-year-old Sachin Singha of National Sailing Club (NSS) won his second race on Thursday and thereby went to the top of the table while EME Sailing Club’s Gaurav Pikale won his maiden race in the first race of the morning.
The morning saw strong winds blowing across the Hussainsagar that resulted in many of the boats capsizing, particularly in the 4.7 event. The young sailors had difficulty in controlling the sails due to the gusty winds which was 26 to 27 knots. There was also shifting of the wind directions to 25 degrees during the course of the race.
But young sailors like Pikale, who learned sailing only four months ago, and Singha impressed in the rough conditions. In the first race of the morning in 4.7, Pikale started off in style. He kept himself in the front for most part of the race before winning in one hour and 51.54 seconds. Shwetha Sidanandan of Tamil Nadu Sailing Association, winner of two races on Tuesday, came second while Varan Thakkar was third. In fact, there is a three-way contest for overall second position between Pikale, Shwetha and Varun.
However, the consistent Singha, who hails from Manipur but is training at NSS at Bhopal, is more or less assured of the title in 4.7 event. He won his second race with a plucky display on Thursday. In strong wind conditions, the gutsy Singha maneuvered his boat skillfully to win the eighth race in 48 minutes and 45 seconds. M Hussain (TNSA) and Varun Thakkar (TNSA) were second and third respectively.
In the Laser Standard, the in-form Jasvir made it a start-to-finish affair with a commanding performance in the seventh race. He cantered home in one hour and 01.44 seconds. Rout, made a tremendous progress in the tournament, to come second while Sukhvir Singh was third. However, in the next race, Rout emerged winner.
Laser Standard: 7th race: 1. Jasvir Singh (AYN) 1 hour and 01.44s, 2. BK Rout (AYN) 1:04.28s, Sukhvir Singh (AYN) 1:04.36s. 8th race: 1. BK Rout 58:52s, 2. Jasvir Singh 59.40s, Sukhvir Singh 1 hour and 01.55s. Laser 4.7: 7th race: 1. Gaurav Pikale (EMESA) 51m and 54s, 2. Shwetha (TNSA) 52.05s, 3. Varun Thakkar (TNSA) 52.26s. 8th race: 1. Sachin Singha (NSS) 48.45s, 2. M Hussain (TNSA) 49.52s, 3. Varun Thakkar 50.02s.