Doha: Qatar’s Waleed Al Sharshani clinched the second place in the Laser Standard class while two other local sailors finished on the podium at the Qatar International Regatta 2015.
Besides Al Sharshani, the other Qatari competitors who excelled were, Abdurrahman Al Jinah, who took the third place in the Laser 4.7 and the pair of Hassan Al Baker and Mohamed Ahmed Ismail in Hobie-16
In the Laser Standard class, Oman dominated with Ahmed Al Balushi and Hussain Al Jabri caliming the gold and the bronze. Qatar’s Al Sharshani was just one point off the gold spot, but had to be content with silver.
Qatar’s bagged the third place in the Hobie Cat 16, India’s Chinna Reddy and Yakobu Kalaga were in a league of their own notching up eight wins from nine races, they were unbeatable. Silver went to Kuwait’s Nayef Al Hada and Mahammed Bastiki and bronze to Qatar’s Hassan Al Baker and Mohamed Ahmed Ismail.
A tight finish unfolded in the Laser 4.7. Only three points separated the first three finishers. Hamza Al Ali of UAE held tight onto his lead that he had claimed from day one, leaving Bahrain’s Saoud Al Naar in second and Qatar’s Abdurrahman Al Jinah in third.
In the Optimist class, there was an intense battle between India’s Chitresh Tatha and Saif Al Mansoury of UAE. Tatha warned off the strong challenge to win the top place followed by Al Mansoury while India’s Navyn Prabhakar took the bronze.
In the 470, it was an easy win for Pakistan’s Muhammad Akram Tariq and crew Khalid Hussain. India’s Praveen Prabhakar and Vishnu Sujeesh came second, with Duarte Monteiro and Adeel Khan in third. In the Laser Radial, Saeed Al Zaidi sealed the first place. The five-day event was organized by Qatar Sailing and Rowing Federation.
The Peninsula
