Two sisters, Lahiri Komaravelly and Deekshita Komaravelly, competed in the Telangana State Sub Junior Sailing Championship. They both finished with 15 points, but Lahiri won 5 races while Deekshita only won 4, allowing Lahiri to win the gold medal.
Deekshita was leading by one point until Friday. In the 9th race, she managed to keep her sister behind her. However, she faltered in the 10th race and came in 3rd place, allowing Lahiri to take the lead and win the gold.
The last two races were held in very light winds, and the regatta only had 10 races in total due to the lack of wind. This gave Lahiri an advantage.
In the boys’ category, Banny Bongur, Vinod Dandu, and Rizwan Mohammad finished in the top three but were significantly behind the girls in terms of points.
Both the sub junior and junior championships had mixed-gender fleets. The girls performed exceptionally well and won many races, surpassing the boys.
The Yacht Club of Hyderabad hosted the championships at Hussain Sagar Hyderabad. Suheim Sheikh, the club’s president, credited their Naavika program for girls for the great results.
In the Junior category, Jhansi won the gold with 8 points before the last day of racing. Vaishnavi Veeravamsham and Thanuja Kameshwar won the silver and bronze medals, respectively. Shravan Kathravath won the gold in the boys’ Junior section.
Dr. Shailaja Ramaiyer, IAS, Principal Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs, attended the prize-giving ceremony as the chief guest. She encouraged the young sailors to perform well in the upcoming nationals and mentioned Preethi Kongara as an example of representing India at the Asian Games and possibly the Olympics.
