Ganapathi-Varun bag honours

Ekta and Shaila pair excels in the 49er FX class

K.C. Ganapathi didn’t sail for nearly seven months after injuring his left shoulder during the ISAF Test event for the World championships in August.

Having recovered now, Ganapathi and Varun Thakkar of Tamil Nadu Sailing Association proved their class in the 49er category, by finishing first in both the races at the Sailing selection trials for the Asian Games here on Wednesday.

It was a good day for TNSA as Aniketh Rajaram and Nethra Kumanan shone in their respective categories — laser 4.7 and laser radial — topping one race each.

Ekta Yadav and Shaila Charls pair stood out in the 49er FX class. The pair representing National Sailing School (Bhopal) finished first in Race 1 and second in Race 2. The TNSA combine of Jayalakshmi Sundarvel and N. Aishwarya also impressed.

Some of the qualified parents, who normally double up as officials, staying away to avoid any “conflict of interest”, the requisite number of officials overseeing the event on the waters was not adequate. Thus the race courses, which was supposed to be held in two different areas simultaneously, has been restricted to a single area and the events are being held back-to-back.

The results (overall): Laser 4.7: 1. Aniketh Rajaram (TNSA), 2. Govind Bairagi (NSS, Bhopal), 3. Vivin Vinil (INWTC, Mumbai); laser radial: 1. Nethra Kumanan (TNSA), 2. Ramya Saravanan (CESC, Pune), 3. Tanu Bisen (NSS, Bhopal); laser standard: 1. Vishnu Saravanan (AYN), 2. Gitesh (AYN), 3. Muzaid Khan (AYN); 470: 1. Ayaz Shaikh-Mahesh Yadav, 2. Atul Lande-CHS Reddy (AYN), 3. Pawan Kumar-Shubham Patel (AYN); 49er: 1. K.C. Ganapathi-Varun Thakkar (TNSA), 2. Brijraj Verma-Pankaj Kumar (INWTC, Mum), 3. Sandeep Jain-Munna Pandit (AYN); 49erFX: 1. Ekta Yadav-Shaila Charls (NSS, Bhopal), 2. Jayalakshmi Sundarvel-N. Aishwarya (TNSA), 3. Varsha Gautham-Sweta Shervegar (AMS Sailing Foundation).