The Hindu : Sport / Sailing : Johl bags crown

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Aug 12, 2004

Sport

Sport - Sailing

Johl bags crown

By A. Joseph Antony

HYDERABAD, AUG. 11. If Nachhatar Singh Johal is to be believed, his best is still to come. He hardly had the stars in his eyes though, after winning the National Laser standard crown at the Hussain Sagar here on Wednesday.

"I'm still to fine-tune my boat handling," said the captain of the 64 Assault Engineer Regiment, who's now stationed at the Army Yachting Node (AYN), Mumbai. Johal was tutored early by Subedar Ram Kumar, himself an accomplished sailor. He dedicated Wednesday's title-winning effort to the memory of his late friend Lt. Ankur Bhatt. A computer freak, who loves programming, Johal had participated in the Laser world championships in Turkey recently.

Despite finishing second in the concluding race, Johal with 11 points was adjudged champion, after the jury refused to reopen an enquiry into the protest lodged by Choudhary on the opening day. The latter was declared second for he got more `guns,' when compared to Arjun Pradipak, who also had 13 points. P. Madhu finished a creditable fourth.

Johal won both the Laser Class Association of India (LCAI) President's Trophy and the Lt. Commander Kelly Rao trophy, the first named title for the champion chosen after two of the worst performances are discarded and the second for the helmsman, who earns the highest number of points after all the races are considered. The Kelly Rao trophy also carries a purse of Rs.10,000.

In the smaller sail event B.K. Rout claimed the LCAI radial trophy, wrapping up the last race of the series in convincing fashion. Dharmender Singh of the Corps of Engineers Sailing Club, Pune, who was placed second with 16 points, did not enter race nine, fearing for his equipment in the prevalent gusty wind conditions.

Secunderabad Sailing Club's own Dinesh Boorgu turned out third. Finishing fourth was Meenu Dahiya, an Army captain, who won the Laser radial trophy for women too. Her performances here make her a promising prospect for the national women's squad.

Madhu was first to turn the windward mark in the last full rig contest, but Rajesh Choudhary upstaged him on the second reach, shortly before the leeward mark.

While Choudhary seemed hard to catch thereafter, the battle for the places raged, with positions changing at almost every mark.

What proved pivotal to the final standings was capsize of Arjun Pradipak on the fourth reach, enabling Madhu give him the slip. With Johal's outracing Pradipak evaporated the latter's chances of silver.

In the concluding leg, Choudhary on a starboard tack hit a trail left of the pylons that considering the wind shifts, proved the shortest course towards the red flag. A 45 tack saw him sign off close to the committee boat.

The high success rate of sailors from the AYN is a notable feature, an institution managed by Col. A.P. Singh and the coach being Gautam Dutta, both past masters in the trade. The six-day meet was organised by the EME Sailing Association and the Secunderabad Sailing Club.

Final standings:

Laser standard: 1. N.S. Johal 11 (AYN), 2. Rajesh Choudhary 13 (AYN), 3. Arjun Pradipak 13 (SSC), 4. P. Madhu 24 (SSC), 5. V. Hari Hara 33 (AYN), 6. Anirudh Vijay Kumar 40 (SSC), 7. Dilip Kumar 48 (AYN), 8. M. Patra 106 (EMESA).

Laser radial: 1. B.K. Rout 8 (AYN), 2. Dharmender Singh 16 (CESC), 3. Dinesh Boorgu 19 (SSC), 4. Meenu Dahiya 37 (AYN), 5. Girish Rao 39 (RASC), 6. Santosh Kumar 47 (EMESA), 7. Narendra Singh 48 (EMESA), 8. D.K. Acharya 59 (INWTC).

The results:

Laser standard (Race 9): 1. Rajesh Choudhary (AYN), 2. N.S. Johal (AYN), 3. Arjun Pradipak (SSC), 4. P. Madhu (AYN), 5. V. Hari Hara (AYN), 6. Anirudh (SSC).

Laser radial (Race 9): 1. B.K. Rout (AYN), 2. Dinesh Boorgu (SSC), 3. D.K. Acharya (INWTC), 4. Narendra Singh (EMESA), 5. Dharmendra Singh Chauhan (CESC), 6. Santosh Kumar (EMESA).

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