The Indian sailors will be tested hard at the Mussanah Open Championship in Oman. This event will serve as the final qualifier for the Tokyo Olympics, starting on July 23.
Initially, this event was to be held in Abu Dhabi. Due to the rising Covid-19 cases in the United Arab Emirates, the event has been moved to Oman. That the Indian sailors face a lot of pressure would be an understatement. They have been out of touch with competitive sailing for long. For that matter, in many disciplines, because of the pandemic, the Olympic qualifiers could not be held in 2020.
From April 1 to 8, sailors from Asia and the Gulf region will showcase their talent and strength. Given the fact no Indian sailing team qualified for the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio Olympics, it will be interesting to see how the Indians fare.
For those who follow the sport, Indian hopes rest on laser, laser radial and 49er class. At the last Asian Games in 2018 in Jakarta and Palembang, Varun Thakkar, KC Ganapathy and Harshita Tomkar were among the medallists. Nethra Kumanan (radial) is also touted as promising.
Unlike a few sporting disciplines in India where there is no foreign coach/expert for guidance, the laser and radial sailors have been getting help from Alexandr Denisiuc from Moldova. He is expected to be in Oman with the team, though there are reports emanating that the boats have faced some logistic problems in transportation from Abu Dhabi to Oman.
In the 49er and radial classes, Ganapathy Kelapanda and Varun Thakkar came second overall at the 2019 Asian Championships. Nethra claimed a bronze at the 2020 World Cup Series USA.
This time, the Indians will need to be crowned as Asian champions in their respective classes to book their ticket to Tokyo.
Team:
Laser: Vishnu Saravanan Current World Ranking 89
Results:
2019 Laser U-21 World Championships CRO- 3rd
2018 Europa Cup ITA- 2nd
2016 Sail Qatar – 1st
49er
Ganapathy Kelapanda & Varun Thakkar World Ranking 106
Results:
2019 Asian Championships UAE 2nd
2018 Asian Games INA 3rd
Radial:
Nethra Kumanan Current World Ranking 71
Results
2020 World Cup Series USA -3rd
2018 Asian Games INA -5th
2015 Europa Cup ISR -1st
Laser:
Upamanyu Dutta Current World Ranking 159
Results:
2018 Europa Cup BEL -2nd
2017 Midwinters USA -6th
2016 Sail the Gulf QAT-4th