The Hindu : Sport : National Laser championships inaugurated

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Monday, Aug 06, 2007
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Sport

National Laser championships inaugurated

Abhijit Sen Gupta

HYDERABAD: The National Laser sailing championships were inaugurated by Renuka Chowdhury, minister of state for women and child development, at the Hussainsagar lake on Sunday morning.

Also present were Lt. General K.S. Venugopal and major general M.P. Singh, president and vice-president respectively of the Laser Class Sailing Association (LCAI) and several top officials of the State Government.

The event is being co-hosted by the EME Sailing Association and the Secunderabad Sailing Club, for the LCAI.

After the inauguration, the sailors went through a practice race ahead of the competitions which are scheduled to begin from Monday morning.

The races will be held in three categories namely the Laser Standard, Laser Radial and Laser 4.7 class of boats, the last category being mainly for youngsters and newcomers.

After the final list of entries was received, it was found that in the Laser Standard category there were 29 entries.

The most accomplished sailor in this category is Rajesh Choudhary of the Army Yachting Node (AYN) who has two Asian Games bronze medals to his credit. Other leading contenders in this class include N.S. Johal and D.P. Selvam, (both from AYN).

Another sailor to watch out for is Salil Sabir from the Goa Yachting Association. Aniruddh of Secunderabad Sailing Club will also be taking part in the Laser Standard category this year.

In the Laser Radial category 46 entries were received. The leading sailors in this section are the experienced B.K. Rout, Dharmender Singh and P.Madhu. Several of Secunderabad Sailing Club’s participants including the experienced Dinesh Boorugu are also in the fray in this section.

In the Laser 4.7 class there are nine entries. Young Navin Shirodkar who created a sensation last year by winning all races, may once again lift the honours in this class.

The Tamil Nadu Sailing Association has fielded six entries in this class. From Secunderabad Sailing Club there are Alekhya and Faraz to complete the line up. The winds, which are vital to this sport, were very strong on Sunday evening.

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