Sport - Sailing

Rout takes day’s honours

HYDERABAD: Wednesday’s honours in the Standard section of the Laser Nationals at the Hussain Sagar went to B.K. Rout.

The reigning Radial champion clinched race six and finished second in the fifth.

The first to complete the opening upwind leg of the fifth race, he dropped down the order on the reaches but Rout regained lost ground on the beats.

Eventual winner Ram Kumar lay sixth in the first leg but showed considerable strength on the second and third stretches.

A collision between Rajesh Choudhary and Dharmender Singh near the gybe mark while on the second triangle found the two registering protests against each other, the occurrence a certain setback for the two-time Asian Games bronze medallist.

In the sixth race, Rout broke free from the pack and remained the sole frontrunner from start to finish. Relatively new to the full rig, he has acquitted himself well right through, rarely straying from the top rung positions.

The course was relaid for the day’s concluding race in the Radial category.

Gaurav Randhawa completed the first lap ahead but then fell back as the lead changed hands at almost every faded orange inflatable thereafter. Ramesh Kumar moved to the fore and tenaciously held on to a slender lead.

From the Marriott mark to the finish, Ramesh and Shekhar Yadav were caught in a tacking duel close to the abandoned pylons, the former managing to ward off the challenge till the hooter and the duo crossing the finish line on the port side.

Randhawa ripped in from the right, completing the course barely a second or two behind.

The results:

Laser Standard V: 1. Ram Kumar, 2. B.K. Rout, 3. Jasvir Singh (all AYN).