Telangana Sailing Association in partnership with the Telangana Tourism department, hosted by the Yacht Club of Hyderabad organizes the first ever Hyderabad Water Sports Regatta to carry forward its celebrations to the talented sailors of the city. The event was organized for the first time from 4th – 6th June, 2015.
The breath taking competition started wherein Harish Rao, Minister for Irrigation and Legislature, flagged off the races alongside P Ramulu, IPS, Chairman Tourism. The competition saw some spectacular performances where young sailors traipsed into the waters in search of gold.
Talking about the race, Suheim Sheikh, President of the Telangana Sailing Association, began by introducing each of the 30 young sailors by name to the Chief Guest to boast their morale. The young sailors gulped in the wonderful winds and the much anticipated race began with sailors giving tough competition to each other. Most of the sailors had just learned to sail over the last few months but showed tremendous expertise. Mohan from LNS Foundation came second, however the race was dominated by the experienced Annanya Chauhan by a wide margin. He won with 11 points and Pallam Arun from Udbhav School came as runners up. There was a close fight between Gautham of Udbhav School and Durga Prasad of LSNF as both were at 29 points but Gautham won by a nose.
Guided by Dronacharya Ismail Baig, a spectacular Row past by the National Rowing Federation was also organized, which fielded some of the top rowers in the country that left the audience breathless as they silently glided past the podium as the Minister took the salute.
On this thrilling occasion, Mr. Harish Rao commented that he is extremely glad which the government’s steps to restore the water quality of the jewel of the city – Hussain Sagar lake along with few measures that have been taken to stop and divert the ingress of pollutants to the lake. He also mentioned that the Chief Minister is very determined towards cleaning and beautification of the lake, before the next Water Sports Regatta. He was also impressed by the large number of kids being trained at the Yacht Club. Mr. Harish Rao thereafter also assured the citizens that Mission Kakatiya will transform the lakes and tanks across the state.
Telangana State has a history of creating some great medal winners in water sports. To encourage more sailors and promote water and adventure sports, Mr.Dinkar Babu VCMD of the Sports Authority announced that the Water Regatta should be organized annually.
The Hyderabad Watersports Regatta had a grand finish with a Recreational Kayaking competition being open to all citizens through the GHAC and almost 75 have already registered by this event that is rapidly gaining in popularity. Recreational Kayaking is designed to serve as a team building and leadership activity and enables one to effortlessly learn Kayaking and compete in a race within 3 hours from scratch to finish.
Other events that kept the spark of the celebration were Jashn-e-Telangana, organized in association with Chow Mahalla Palace called as “Shaan-e-Khusrawi”. It was a melodious event with Sufi and Qawalli music performance by Ms. Parvati Kumar from Kolkata & Ms. Nizami Bgandhu from Delhi. The event was held on 4th June, 2015 at 6.30pm at the Chow-Mohallah Palace.
Adding a cultural twist to showcase clothing in a unique manner, a ballet was performed by Sri Lakshmi Bhavana Kalaa Bharathi from Bangalore along with her group called as Chenetha Chamakkulu. The ballet was based on the importance of sarees woven on the handlooms. The theme of the ballet was Unity in Diversity wherein they depicted sarees made from all over India from different states, taking different cultures and traditions together to present an honor to Mother India. It was choreographed by Smt. Bharathi Srikanth, written & music composed by- Late Sri P.V.Bhavana Charyulu (Rohini Kumar) and was held at Shilparamam at 6.30pm.
