Hyderabad, July 25: As the weather continued to trouble sailors at large on Day Two of the National Sailing Championships at Hussainsagar here on Sunday, veteran Rajesh Choudhary managed to keep his opponents at bay, winning the third and fourth races of the Laser Radial Class.
It was business as usual for Rajesh who functioned like a well-oiled machine, finishing the first race (third of the Laser Radial category) in 66 minutes and 45 seconds while Dharmender Singh (68 minutes and 22 seconds) and B.K. Raut (68 minutes and 25 seconds) were way behind.
However, the vagaries of nature caught up on the ace sailor during the second race of the day when Rajesh, leading from start to finish only managed to enjoy a slender lead over his opponents.
It was a neck-to-neck race but Rajesh, owing to his experience and skill prevailed, finishing the race in 51 minutes and 5 seconds. B.K. Raut (51 minutes and 25 seconds) and Dharmender (52 minutes and 45 seconds) finished second and third respectively.
In the 4.7 category, Rufus Patrick reigned supreme, winning both the races with ease. While the first race was clinched by him in 42 minutes and 35 seconds, the second race was finished in 42 minutes and 30 seconds.
Manu Francis (42 minutes and 56 seconds) and Hussain (43 minutes and 10 seconds) were second and third in the first race but had their positions interchanged in the next. Rufus had a steady race throughout but in the second race of the 4.7 category, the youngster from Chennai lost out on the first beat but picked up steam in the second and third to finish on top. He won the first race in 42 minutes and 35 seconds while won the second in 42 minutes and 30 seconds. The Laser Standard event saw Jasvir Singh winning both the races.
The second day races also witnessed a unique initiative from 92.7 BIG FM that launched a campaign to save the Hussainsagar by going live from the lake for 92.7 hours, thereby galvanising the city to pledge to save the lake.