Junior National Ranking regatta: Telangana sailors win 12 medals, highest by any state

Mandya: Sailors from Telangana have won a total of 12 medals, the highest by any state, at the Junior National Ranking Regatta, which was held at the Krishnaraja Sagara Dam, Mandya district in Karnataka between July 29 and August 16, 2023. So far, they have clinched six gold, four silvers, and two bronze medals.

The event was organized by the Royal Mysore Sailing Club (RMSC) in association with the National Federation - Yachting Association of India (YAI).

Deekshita Komaravelly from Hyderabad finished overall third across genders in a 39-sailor fleet. She is now the National Girls Champion and India’s number one in the under 15 Optimist Class, a feat three girls before her from Telangana have accomplished - Preethi Kongara, Jhansi Laveti, and Ravali Parandi. Deekshita also secured the gold medal for girls with a huge margin of 45 points while Samriddhi Batham from Bhopal got the second position.

Deekshita’s sister Lahari Komaravelly got the bronze and both sisters from Udbhav School are now better positioned in the National ranking. With the Junior National slated in Mumbai in October, both of them are looking forward to a ranking of 1 and 2.

In the 420 Mixed and Open Classes, the Monsoon Regatta Champions skipper Dharani Laveti and crew Mallesh Vadla won nine straight races out of 11 ruling the International 420 Class in India. Fellow Telanganites Thanuja Kameshwar and Shravan were able to clinch only one win and clinched the silver. Both sailors also won gold and silver medals in the Open Class. Dharani, Thanuja, and the crew were given two golds and two silvers as they had won two championships in the mixed and open categories.

Banny Bongur, Daniel Rajkumar, and Mohammad Rizwan also from Telangana have moved up in their ranking at the Mysore Nationals giving Telangana an edge at the forthcoming Junior Nationals and surely a greater chance at the Sports Ministry-funded Internationals to ensue thereafter. The youngest to be awarded a special medal was nine-year-old Gowtham Yadav.

Dadi Bhote, president of the Telangana Sailing Association, said, “Despite being a landlocked state and only a small lake to practice, Telangana has so far produced more than 150 medals across years and this year specifically has been very promising in the International 420 Class and the Optimist Classes.”

“We are making great progress as a power to reckon with in sailing. One of the girls, Preethi Kongara has been selected by the Federation for the Asian Games and many more are going to be part of the National Squad,” said Suheim Sheikh, president and chief coach of the YCH Sports Foundation based out of Hyderabad.