Japan, Singapore sailors dominate opening day of 2022 Optimist Asian and Oceanian Championship
Dec 16, 2022
Mumbai (Maharashtra)[India], December 16 : Enthusiastic young sailors from 13 countries got cracking with an aim to claiming the top prize at the 2022 Optimist Asian and Oceanian Championship which got underway off the Girgaum Chowpatty in Mumbai on Thursday.
The young sailors (both boys and girls) below the age of 15 showed amazing skills on the opening day of the week-long sailing championship at the International Optimist Dinghy Association (IODA) event. Around 101 of the world's best young sailors are participating in the event where they have been divided into two fleets-yellow and blue.
At the end of the opening day, sailors of Japan dominated the blue fleet races as they held three of the top five places in the category, whereas sailors of Singapore held two of the top five places in the yellow fleet.
"We had a fantastic opening day with excellent world-class sailing. We had a good day thanks to excellent work put in by all our team members as we get ready for an exciting week of sailing in some very good conditions," said Colonel Nachhatar Singh Johal, the Commanding officer of the AYN and 2008 Beijing Games Olympian.
India's 20-member squad made an impressive start on opening day. India's squad comprises six girls and 14 boys.
Diyanshi Mishra finished overall in the 25th position in the yellow fleet race at the end of the day with 27 net points, whereas Akash Mahesh Tangai had an impressive finish as he ended the second race in seventh place in the second race in the yellow fleet, but finished on an overall 26th place with 29 net points. Eklavya Batham also stood seventh in the second race in the blue fleet with an overall 59 net points, while Thanuja Kameswar finished in 10th place in the first yellow fleet race to end with an overall 41 points.
Earlier, the event got off to a fantastic opening ceremony on Wednesday, 14 December at the Yashwantrao Chavan Pratishthan in Mumbai where sailors from all 13 national teams were welcomed to the event. The opening ceremony witnessed a wonderful rendition of Bharat Natyam which captured the essence of Indian culture.
The event was inaugurated by Lt General HS Kahlon, SM, HOC, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa Area, while captain Ajay Narang, Vice President-Africa, Asia & Oceania, International Optimist Dinghy Association declared the event open. Sailing at 2022 Asian and Oceanian Championship continues until 19th December 2022 on Monday.
