Telangana sailors surprise with 6 medals at Youth Nationals and India International, Chennai

Hyderabad, December 20, 2016: Telangana which has sent the largest sailing team for India International Regatta at Chennai surprised with clinching 6 medals.

The team part assisted by the Telangana Youth Welfare and Tourism Ministry, largely comprising beginners headed out for their first International event at Chennai, their practice was impacted by the huge storm Vardha yet they weathered the resulting deep swell and North Easterly monsoon winds, most of them sailing in the wide open sea for the first time.
The Telangana girls and boys performed creditably amongst competition from 12 countries including Sweden, Honkong and Thailand.

Sachin Bethamalla from Shaikpet Model school , barely 11 years old won two silver medals in the sub Junior India International Green fleet by just a single point in a hard fought gruelling 12 race series. Sachin’s father works at a small hotel in Secunderabad.

Rishab Nayar all of 15 moved to a higher category of boat , the radial class and triumphed with a silver at is maiden attempt and his first international bronze in the same category. Heading back for Chicago Rishab plans to sail international waters but ‘my heart will always be in Hyderabad and in Telangana”, says the precocious lad.

Juhi Desai wins her first national bronze in the Junior Laser Class surprised everybody with the last race performance to a podium finish . Juhi is the only girl from Telangana to win a medal at this nationals and hopes to move up to gold next year.

Gautham Kankatla, the son of a single mother who works at KIMS hospital as a helper and studies at Udbhav School was the most hard fought battle and he took the game to the wire. He had a load of bad luck with two disqualifications and a wrong reading of a mark and was as a consequence beaten to gold by the local Tamilnadu sailors , Neelanand and Nayyn Prabhakar.

"Gautam sailed as a man possessed and it is good to see him move into the Juniors this year and sign off with a national medal. He could have fared a bit better were it not for a handful of unforced errors and disqualifications “said Suheim Sheikh his coach at the Yacht Club

Telangana had a few more great finishes with 4th and 5th positions going to Masti Saibaba & Durga Prasad and Tanishq Desai also finishing 4th behind Rishab Nayar of Telangana and Dheer Singhi of Tamilnadu all near misses for medals.

At their first nationals Vijay Kumar and Vadla Mallesham of Shaikpet School finished 10 and 15 respectively at the Youth Nationals.

Telangana sent 26 sailors which constitutes 50% of the Indian fleet and about a third of the International Fleet that participated in the India International Regatta at Chennai which is held between 15th to 20th December. While it is an International with about 12 countries participating it is also the Youth Nationals under the Federation so each sailor will get a chance to win two championships rolled into one regatta.

Final Results Tally for Youth Open Nationals

Optimist Subjunior Fleet - 67 entries
R.Neelanand Tamilnadu - Gold 75 points
Navyn Prabhakar Tamilnadu Silver - 115 points
Gautam Kantla - Telangana Bronze - 132 points
Masti Saibaba - Telangana -4th - 155 points
Durga Prasad 5th Pos - 162 points

Laser Radial Fleet 20 Entries
Vishnu Sarvanan - Maharashtra - Gold 9 points
Rishab Nayar - Telangana - Silver -28 points
Dheer Singhi - Tamilnadu - Bronze 35 points

Optimist Green Fleet
Shiv Pujan Jaiswal - Maharashtra - 13 points Gold
Sachin Bethamalla - Telangana - 29 points Silver
Mustafa Topivala Tamil Nadu - 30 points Bronze