Date:09/08/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/08/09/stories/2004080904651600.htm

Sport - Sailing

Rajesh Choudhary on song

By A. Joseph Antony

HYDERABAD, AUG. 8 . Saturday was a nightmare for Rajesh Choudhary. Even in the evening, he was staring vacantly at the ceiling in the EMESA `hut', failing to come to terms with two third-place finishes in the Laser Standard category, of which he had been crowned Asian champion at Mumbai, earlier this year. The cup of woe was complete when his protest against N.S. Johal was overruled late in the evening.

Recalling the debacles, he said the capsize had indeed proved costly, the time lost in getting his craft upright enabling competitors to close in on him and subsequently overtake him. The mistakes mounted, as he was undecided on the wind shifts, whether to play the centre line or hit the left or right. He had felt the full impact of falling back from the frontline.

On Sunday at the Hussain Sagar, he put those unbecoming finishes firmly behind him, taking care not to slip up like Saturday. The margin of his two resounding wins underlined his supremacy in the class, the third race won by about 40 boat lengths and the fourth, by 60 to 80. That he would brook no challenge became evident when he led from start to finish in both competitions.

Most of the fleet veered way too left in the first race, carried away by a strong wind from the right. Choudhary's zig-zagging found him charting the shortest route to the windward buoy as he hit the lay-line time and again. Once he wheeled round it, there was no stopping him on the first reach, N.S. Johal and Hari Hara placed well behind him at the gybe mark.

Johal was hot on Choudhary's heels in the upwind leg of the loop. On completion of the run, Arjun Pradipak was virtually breathing down Rajesh's neck. On the third beat, Anirudh Vijay Kumar made much headway near the pylons, gaining ground over some sailors but could not sustain the pace subsequently.The six-day meet is being jointly organised by the EME Sailing Association and the Secunderabad Sailing Club.

The results:

Laser Radial: Race III: 1. B.K. Rout (AYN) 2. Dharmender Singh (CESC) 3. Meenu Dahiya (AYN) 4. Suresh Singh (CESC) 5. A. Tripathi (AYN) 6. Santosh Kumar (EMESA).

Race IV: 1. B.K. Rout (AYN) 2. Dinesh Boorgu (SSC) 3. Suresh Singh (CESC) 4. A. Tripathi (AYN) 5. Dharmender Singh (CESC) 6. Meenu Dahiya (AYN).

Laser Standard: Race III: 1. Rajesh Choudhary (AYN) 2. N.S. Johal (AYN) 3. Arjun Pradipak (SSC) 4. P. Madhu (AYN) 5. V. Hari Hara (AYN) 6. Anirudh Vijay Kumar (SSC).

Race IV: 1. Rajesh Choudhary (AYN) 2. Arjun Pradipak (SSC) 3. N.S. Johal (AYN) 4. V. Hari Hara (AYN) 5. P. Madhu (AYN) 6. Anirudh Vijay Kumar (SSC).