Hyderabad: Little Lahri Komaravelli (12) of Rasoolpura in the city has won the Bronze Medal at the National Sailing championship held at Krishna Raja Sagara dam in Mysuru recently.
A release here on Sunday said, as the teams from Hyderabad prepared to head out to the Nationals at Krishna Raja Sagara dam in Mysuru, the expected winds were in the range of about 15-20 knots and the teams were chosen based on experience, weight and performance.
Lahri was too lightweight to be considered for participation but because her elder sister Deekshita was sailing and and her mother Kavitha was serving on the Hyderabad team as Guardian, Lahiri joined the team to Mysuru with the intention of taking part in the beginners fleet given that she is just 27 kilos while all the top sailors were 45 kilos plus.
The beginners fleet was cancelled and Lahiri was forced to join the Main National Fleet at this Ranking Regatta.
Lahiri braced herself while fortunately for her the wind speeds dropped to less than 5 knots leading to a disaster of a regatta with just 4 races and very low winds. However the light and fragile Lahiri moved faster than many at the regatta and to her credit managed to clinch a bronze medal against the top sailors of the country.
Lahiri closed the regatta with 81 penalty points and her neighbour at Rasoolpura Bunny Bongur finished 11th in the Boys category.
Vaishnavi Veeravamsham of the Yacht Club also clinched a Bronze after a medal drought of many months and hopes to move up the ranking ladder in the next two regattas giving her a shot at the Asian Games to be held in China in September 2023.
‘This medal was miraculous given that Lahiri participated for the first time at a National Ranking Event’, said Suheim Sheikh the President of the Yacht Club of Hyderabad where the girl was trained. “This regatta will be the memory of her life“, he added.
The team remains in Mysuru for the YAI Youth National Championship to be held at the Krishna Raja Sagara dam.
Girls-Final Penalty Points Tally
Divayanshi Mishra 11 Bhopal Gold
Shagun Jha 58 Bhopal Silver
Lahiri Komaravelly 81 Hyderabad Bronze. (UNI)