Laser National sailing: Sharif shows his class, wins two races

STORMING BACK: Sharif Khan, who fell behind Pandey in races four and five, edged out his teammate on both occasions. Photo: K. Ramesh Babu

Sharif Khan of Army Yachting Node registered two hard-fought wins in the Laser Radial class competitions on the second day of the Laser National sailing championships here on Wednesday.

In both races, he had to come from behind to upstage top contender and teammate, K.K. Pandey. In the fourth race, Pandey led from the start and held on to the lead for the major part of the race.

However, Sharif, who was close on his heels, read the winds correctly and handled his craft admirably to overtake Pandey.

The fifth race followed a similar script, Pandey surging ahead early on and Sharif Khan giving him a hot chase and pipping him at the finish.

It was only in the sixth race, and the third and final one of the day, did Pandey taste victory. He made no mistake this time, holding on to his early lead. Surprisingly, Sharif had a poor race and came home sixth.

Srinu shines

Newcomer A. Srinu of EME Sailing Club (Bhopal) finished a creditable seventh in this race. The Bhopal sailor, who took up the sport only in January this year and is taking part in his first Laser National championship, got the better of more experienced rivals in the fray.

The results:

Laser Standard class: First race: 1. B.K. Rout (EMESA), 2. Dharmender Singh (AYN), 3. Jasveer Singh (AYN), 4. Ramesh Kumar (AYN), 5. Gurjeet Singh (AYN).

Second race: 1. Ramesh Kumar (AYN), 2. B.K. Rout (EMESA), 3. Jasveer Singh (AYN), 4. Gitesh Kumar (AYN), 5. Dharmender Yadav (AYN).

Third race: 1. Jasveer Singh (AYN), 2. Dharmender Singh (AYN), 3. Gajender Singh (AYN), 4. Gitesh Kumar (AYN), 5. Gurjeet Singh (AYN).

Laser Radial class: Fourth race: 1. Sharif Khan (AYN), 2. K.K. Pandey (AYN), 3. Dilip Kumar (EMESA), 4. Mujahid Khan (AYN), 5. Virender Singh (AYN).

Fifth race: 1. Sharif Khan (AYN), 2. K.K. Pandey (AYN), 3. Dilip Kumar (EMESA), 4. Mujahid Khan (AYN), 5. Harpreet Singh (AYN).

Sixth race: 1. K.K. Pandey (AYN), 2. Mujahid Khan (AYN), 3. Harpreet Singh (AYN), 4. Dilip Kumar (EMESA), 5. Gaurav Randhawa (INWTC).

Laser 4.7 class:

First race: 1. Vir Menon (RMYC), 2. Ravindhar M. (TNSA), 3. Aryaman Dutta (RBYC), 4. Dheer Singhi (RMYC), 5. V. Sujeesh (TNSA).

Second race: 1. Vir Menon (RMYC), 2. Ravindhar M. (TNSA), 3.Dheer Singhi (RMYC), 4. Shikhar Garg (NSS Bhopal), 5. Aryman Dutta (RBYC).

Third race: 1. Vir Menon (RMYC), 2. Dheer Singhi (RMYC), 3. Shikhar Garg (NSS, Bhopal), 4. V. Sujeesh (TNSA), 5. Ravindhar (TNSA).