A group of youngsters from modest financial background, many of whom orphans, are literally making waves and earning a reputation of being fine sailors from Hyderabad. About 15 such youngsters, supported by The Yacht Club, Secunderabad, have started to make a mark by stringing together notable performances in the country’s sailing circuit.

On Friday, a youngster from this group, a class eight student, Leela Sagar, performed exceptionally on the fourth day of the ‘Monsoon Regatta’ being held in Hussain Sagar in the Opti National category. Often described by experts as a sailor with great promise, Sagar has already sailed in many cities, including Mumbai, Cochin and Chennai.

The remaining 14 youngsters in the group include Rajanikanth, Nikhil, Prabhakar, Nagarjuna, Bharath, Vishnu, Praveen Kumar, Shivram, Raju, Prasad, Srikanth, Saibaba and Lokesh. “We give infrastructure support to these children. All of them are from humble background and many have lost their parents, but they have determination to get noticed in the sport,” says founder, The Yacht Club, Suheim Sheikh.

Among the top performers is Nikhil Kumar, who recently attended a coaching camp held by Marek Nostitz Kackowski, who coached Hong Kong Olympic team for Sydney and Athens in 2000 and 2004. Another young performer is Ragi Rajanikanth, who came third in Toppers’ National and also won bronze medal on Thursday in the ongoing Monsoon Regatta, 2014.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Staff Reporter / Hyderabad – July 05th, 2014