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April 30: Arjuna Awardee Mahesh Ramachandran lifts the UTV Match Racing Nationals title in style after he won against his opponent Aashim Mongia 3-1 in a keenly contested final which took place off the Indian Naval Watermanship Training Centre shores here on Friday. He defended his title since almost more than a decade and the young brigade needs to come up to match his class to break the record.
Aashim Mongia though would be satisfied with his performance and reaching the finals for the first time in five years but he fumbled in the last stage and gave away his title to the seasoned sailor.
The final looked more like a formality for Cdr. Mahesh than anything as it didn’t have the usual fervor of the loud screams for penalties nor some crashes which has been the trend so far. Both the skippers avoided incidents and let their experience take the driver’s seat.
From the first race both were on the course side at the start time and the team of Cdr. Mahesh comprising of Nitin Mongia, Rajesh Dhulaji and Neeraj Sharma put to use their team work to the best effect when it mattered the most.
While the runners-up team of Aashim Mongia which had in the side Gulshan Chunekar, Ninad Mayekar and Chetan Fernandes succumbed under pressure. After losing the first two matches Mongia and his team won the third match giving some hope for tying the scores. But the fourth match was comfortably won by Cdr. Mahesh to finish off the proceedings in his favor.
In the match for the third place between Asian Games qualifying team of Farokh Tarapore who was ably supported by his crew of Balraj, Trunal Helegaonkar, Atool Sinha and Shekhar Yadav had to settle for a bronze medal after losing to Mahesh yesterday in the Semi Finals. They beat Sandeep Jain and his team with a clean sweep 2-0.
“Excellent crew work when it mattered the most. We had a close chase for the title and I am waiting for some youngsters who are getting better to really come and take the title away from us and I hope that happens soon,” said R Mahesh after winning the title.
Final standing:
- Mahesh Ramachandran and team
- Aashim Mongia and team
- Farokh Tarapore and team
- Sandeep Jain and team
- Muthu Rajan and team
- Ayaz Shaikh and team
- Yuvraj Singh and team
- Ayesha Lobo and team
- Taramati Matiwade and team
- B B Barik
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