The long wait is finally over. After missing the bus for five years, Rajesh Choudhary has reason to smile. The 37-year-old Army Yachting Node (AYN) sailor has been chosen for the Arjuna Award this year. It’s been a long journey. The humble sailor, hailing from Raghunandanpur village in Bihar’s Begusarai district, will go down in history as one of the best sailors produced by India.
Ask Peter Conway, the new coach of the Indian yachting squad, and he is full of praise for his ward. “Choudhary is one of those extraordinary sailors who come along once in a while,” says the Englishman.
But it’s still a mystery why Choudhary had to wait so long for the Arjuna Award. After being Asian Games bronze medallist twice, a gold medallist at the Asian Sailing Championship and unbeaten national champion in the Laser Radial class since 1996, he must have felt he would be considered for the honour earlier. “It did hurt me but I have always believed in God. I never lost hope. That I have finally been recognised for my performances gives me the motivation to go for a third successive medal in the Asian Games in China this year,” says Choudhary, who recently won the Inland Laser National Radial event in Hyderabad.
For Choudhary, sailing was never in his mind when he started his journey from Bihar to Hyderabad in the early 1990s. He joined the Electrical and Mechanical Engineering (EME) centre of the Army and was never attracted to water sport. But a chance participation in kayaking and then a stint in the Enterprise Class saw him winning his first medal in the AP Open Sailing Championship on the Hussainsagar lake. His maiden victory made Choudhary believe he had the talent to do well in water sport. “Hussainsagar will always be close to my heart. It gave me a new life and this lake has given me the recognition I have today,” he says.
His first big individual medal came in 1994 when he won gold in the OK Dinghy Open National Sailing Championship in Hyderabad. Choudhary followed up the success with further medals as he started to dominate the national scene. The first laser national gold medal came in 1996. “Sailing is like chess. It is full of mind games, about outwitting your opponent. You have to be focussed also as you have to read the opponents, read the winds and then control your boat. It is a tough but enjoyable sport. Sometimes, it can be tough on the rough seas. Sailing needs a lot of physical fitness, strength and courage,” says Choudhary.
The AYN sailor clinched his first international gold medal in 2000 when he bagged top honours in the Doha International. Named the Admiral RR Tahilian Trophy Yachtsman of the year in 2000, Choudhary bagged his first Asian Games bronze at Busan in 2002. He repeated that feat in the Doha Asian Games in 2006.
“I missed the silver medal by a narrow margin. This time I will go for the gold although the competition will be very tough,” says Choudhary, who is attending the national camp in Chennai to prepare for the Asian Games.
Conway believes Choudhary has a good chance in the Asian Games, which kicks off on November 12. “Choudhary is hungry to win combined with extraordinary ability. Success is inevitable. It is a question of when and not if,” says Conway. “Probably, he is handicapped by his own talent because he does things that normal sailors can’t. He makes his own space, revels in good and bad conditions. Plus, he has extraordinary determination and that makes him one of the best sailors in the country.”
das@expressbuzz.com