Dharmender Singh of AYN is virtually assured of the title in the Laser Radial class competitions of the 26th National Laser sailing championships which saw the penultimate day's races being completed at the Hussainsagar lake here on Saturday.
It was Dharmender's consistency that paid dividends in a tough field where most of the country's top sailors were in the fray. While Dharmender produced few spectacular results, he almost always finished among the top three and this is what gave him a better points position than his rivals.
In Saturday's races in the Radial category, the eleventh race was particularly noteworthy. The race began with wind speeds relatively low at six to ten knots.
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At the end of the first triangle Ramesh Kumar of AYN was in the lead followed by Sharif Khan of EMESA, Shekhar Singh Yadav of INWTC and Xerxes Bamboat of RBYC in that order. In seventh place was Mrinalini Santhanam of Tamil Nadu Sailing Association.
Ramesh Kumar sailed superbly and showed commendable skills to emerge a deserving winner fighting off a strong challenge from his experienced rivals. But it was young Mrinalini who caught the eye with a splendid performance.
Improving her position steadily, she surprised everyone with a superb show and took the second place eventually. This was one of the best performances chalked up by this gutsy young lass from Tamil Nadu.
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The results: Laser Standard: Race 8: 1. Jasvir Singh (AYN), 2. Sukhvir Singh (AYN), 3. Naveen Kumar (AYN), 4. Gajender Singh (AYN), 5. K.K. Pandey (AYN), 6. V. Hari Hara (AYN).
Race 9: 1. Naveen Kumar (AYN), 2. Virender Singh (INWTC Mumbai), 3. V. Hari Hara (AYN), 4. Jaspal Singh (CESC), 5. Jasvir Singh (AYN), 6. Sukhvir Singh (AYN).
Laser Radial: Race 10: 1. Bikas Mohapatra (AYN), 2. Dharmender Singh (AYN), 3. Amandeep Singh (AYN), 4. Sharif Khan (EMESA), 5. Shekhar Singh Yadav (INWTC Mumbai), 6. Ramesh Kumar (AYN).
Race 11: 1. Ramesh Kumar (AYN), 2. Mrinalini Santhanam (TNSA), 3. Puneet Khanna (CESC), 4. Sharif Khan (EMESA), 5. Xerxes Bamboat (RBYC), 6. Bikas Mohapatra (AYN).
Laser 4.7: Race 8: 1. Prince Noble (MYC), 2. Abhimanyu Panwar (RMYC), 3. Meghana (TNSA), 4. Varun Thakkar (TNSA), 5. Varsha Gautam (TNSA), 6. Vikas Singh (CESC).
Race 9: 1. Varun Thakkar (TNSA), 2. Prince Noble (MYC), 3. Varsha Gautam (TNSA), 4. Manu Francis (MYC), 5. Abhimanyu Panwar (RMYC), 6. Vikas Singh (CESC).