Telangana Sailors Shine on Day 3 of YAI Monsoon Regatta as Nilkonda Mani Retains

Hyderabad, June 4 (TNT) Telangana sailors continued their dominance at the 17th YAI Monsoon Regatta National Ranking Championship on Thursday, with Nilkonda Mani maintaining his lead in the Under-16 Optimist class and Vutla Narasimha claiming his maiden National Championship race victory in a thrilling finish.

Nilkonda Mani continued his impressive run at the top of the leaderboard, securing two top-three finishes to maintain his overall lead.

Reigning National Champion Ravikumar Bennollu bounced back after a difficult start to the championship, registering a race victory and a second-place finish to move into contention for the title.

The highlight of the day was the remarkable performance of Vutla Narasimha, the son of a daily wage labourer, who recently represented India at the Singapore Nationals. Narasimha clinched his maiden race victory at a National Championship by narrowly edging out Ravikumar in a fiercely contested 45-minute race.

The result propelled him to third place overall, behind Mani and Ravikumar.

Despite his resurgence, Ravikumar remains six penalty points behind leader Mani and faces a significant challenge after losing his discard following a disqualification in the opening race of the regatta.

With Narasimha only one point behind him, the race for the Monsoon Regatta Cup remains wide open.

In the Under-16 Girls category, Rameeza Bhanu moved ahead of Shringari Roy to take the lead.

The two sailors continue to battle closely on the water, with consistency over the remaining races likely to determine the gold medal winner.

The Under-16 Novice Fleet also saw exciting competition, with Veer Vignesh of Mudfort School, Secunderabad, winning all three races of the day.

Mohammad Rehman of the Telangana Sailing Association finished close behind, while Roshni of Mudfort Government School emerged as the leading girl sailor.

In the Laser Boys Under-18 class, Navy sailors Preeth Siwal and Hriday Joshi maintained their dominance at the top of the standings.

However, Kownik Vardhan of MJPT Schools climbed from fourth to third overall despite suffering a capsize in the unpredictable conditions.

The Laser Girls category remains highly competitive, with Katyayani Kaushik of the Navy and Ramyashree of MJPT Schools leading the race for gold and silver respectively as the regatta reaches its halfway stage.

In the 29er Boys Skiff class, Telangana Sailing Association pair Vinod Dandu and Arvind Maloth retained their overall lead.

However, Navy crews led by Sharanya Jadhav and Shivam Walmiki narrowed the gap with two impressive race victories.

The International 420 Mixed class produced one of the closest contests of the championship, with Chandralekha and Dhanush holding a slender one-point advantage over Badrinath and Rishwita, setting up an exciting battle over the final two days of competition.

Standings After Race 5

Under-16 Optimist Boys

1. Nilkonda Mani (TSA) – 7 points
2. Ravikumar Bennollu (TSA) – 13 points
3. Vutla Narasimha (TSA) – 15 points

Under-16 Optimist Girls

1. Rameeza Bhanu (TSA) – 18 points
2. Shringari Roy (SSC) – 21 points
3. Sakshi Kumari (TSA) – 40 points

Laser Boys Under-18

1. Preeth Siwal (Navy) – 5 points
2. Hriday Joshi (Navy) – 10 points
3. Kownik Vardhan (MJPT Schools) – 18 points

29er Boys Skiffs

1. Vinod Dandu & Arvind Maloth (TSA) – 7 points
2. Sharanya Jadhav & Shivam Walmiki (Navy) – 9 points
3. Rizwan Mahammad & Sathwik Dhoki (Navy) – 13 points

International 420 Mixed

1. Chandralekha & Dhanush (TSA) – 7 points
2. Badrinath & Rishwita (TSA) – 8 points
3. Sirisha & Ramcharan (TSA) – 14 points

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