The Hindu : Sport : Laser National from today

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Laser National from today

Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD: It should be a fair wind blowing Hyderabad’s way when hulls hit the waters of the historic Hussain Sagar for the Laser National sailing championships on Monday. Wind speeds have held steady for the past fortnight and the forecast for the week to come is upwards of 10 knots.

Leading the Laser Standard fleet should be Rajesh Choudhary, two-time Asian Games gold medallist in 2002 and 2006. A right shoulder muscular tear hampered his Olympic ambitions in the qualifying competitions held in Australia earlier this year.

A seasoned sailor, his grip on the crown has become no less than a stranglehold, with unquestioned conquest of the class since 1996, except in 2004 when laid low by fever and a relegation to runner-up position. Some challenge may come from B.K. Rout, the defending champion in the Radial, who shifted to the Standard category and even won a bronze in the Coastal Nationals.

Choudhary, the spearhead of the Army Yachting Node (AYN) campaign, made his mark on these very waters way back in 1994 in the Optimist class and he considers the EME Sailing Association his mother club.

Promising sailors

Other promising sailors in the fleet include Dharmender Singh, Jasveer Singh, the young and immensely talented Xerxes Bamboat and Mrinalini Santhanam, who should be in the forefront of the youth and women’s categories.

The waters of the Hussain Sagar are awfully polluted but the triangular course drawn up by Principal Race Officer M.P. Jaggi should find every sinew strained in the quest for honours. The Laser Standard route is a triangle, followed by a loop, followed by another triangle and ending in the finish. In the Laser 4.7, it should be a double triangle and the finish.

At Saturday’s press conference, Major General A.V. Subramaniam, Vice President, Laser Class Association of India (LCAI), stressed on the 22-year tradition set by this championship. Secunderabad Club President V. Narayandas pledged continued support to the event, while Aniruddh Vijay Kumar said the number of participants was likely to touch three figures. LCAI Secretary, Lt. Col. R.S. Dhillon, himself an accomplished sailor, said the target time for completing the course was 50 minutes.

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