Three young Hyderabad girls to debut at Asian and Ocenian Championships

In a recent development, three young Hyderabad sailors - Preethi Kongara, Jhansi Priya and Lakshmi Nookarathnam have made the cut to the Indian contingent, which will participate at the Optimist Asian and Oceanian Championships to be held in Oman. The girls won gold, silver and bronze respectively at the recently concluded State Championships. Preethi Kongara also won the National Ranking Monsoon Regatta gold medal. Over 300 sailors from China, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia and 16 other nations are expected to participate in the extravaganza to be hosted at the Mussanah Sports City from September 30 to October 7. The events include individual fleet racing and team racing. It was all an unreal dream for these youngsters to leave the Indian shores for the Asian and Oceanian Championships, courtesy their stellar show at the State level. Jhansi, 12, is the youngest member of the Indian contingent while the other two girls are of 15 years of age. Preethi hails from Nallagutta Government School while Jhansi and Lakshmi are from Udbhav School, Rasoolpura. Hailing from an economically challenged background, it's a great chance for the girls to make it count in their debut international regatta who were absolutely ecstatic on hearing the news of their selection. They are currently training at the Yacht Club of Hyderabad ahead of their first big endeavour. Jubilant at the girls' qualification, Suheim Sheikh, coach and President of the Hyderabad Yacht Club said, “We would like to reach the venue much earlier with our coach to get used to the wind and the water. I do look forward to a few medals coming to India this year as the girls are primed to give their best," in an interview with Deccan Chronicle.