Mahesh Ramachandran ousted defending champion Nitin Mongia to clinch the match racing championship of the Monsoon Regatta at the Hussain Sagar here on Sunday. In the Optimist competition, Upamanyu Dutta underscored his authority winning the concluding race as well.
Mahesh, backed by his crew comprising R.S. Dulaji, Neeraj Sharma and G. Sahu, prevailed in the first two races in the teeth of stiff competition from Mongia. In the third, Nitin stole a march at the start and led some of the way, but Mahesh made sure he wrapped it up 3-0.
Nitin Mongia and crew consisting of Yuvraj Singh, P.S. Rao and G Randhawa after an unblemished round robin and semifinals, settled for silver. Gulshan Chunekar, Ninad Meykar, Chetan Fernandez with substitute Chaitanya Chowgule were awarded the bronze after beating Ayesha Lobo. The final race in the Optimist saw Upamanyu Dutta winning once again. Zephra finished with the open silver and the girls gold.
K.C. Ganapathy with equal points had to settle for the bronze as Zephra had more second positions.
