Sailing: How India is Catching Up in the run to Olympics

Unlike cricket, not many Indians might be familiar with sailing. India has large coastal regions which can be beneficial to this sport. But the fact is that it has not used the advantage of this geographical area. But things have slowly changed. India has started to produce more sailors.

What's even more amazing is that 4 Indian sailors have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics.

1.Nethra Kumanan (Laser Radial)

She became the first sailor from India to get a direct entry based on qualification. Others who had qualified before were given the continental quota.

Laser Radial - It is a single-handed boat sailed by only one person. It has a shorter mast and reduced sail area meaning it allows light sailors to sail in heavy winds. 

2. Vishnu Saravanan (Laser Standard)

He became the 2nd Indian to qualify for Tokyo Olympics by coming 2nd in the Musannah Qualifying event held in Oman.

3.KC Ganapathy - Varun Thakkar (49er class)

They are the only Indian pair to qualify this year. Here the two persons involved need to have different skills. One person is there to make tactical decisions and the is good physique who handles the boat. 

Future Scope

Inclusion of this sport in the Khelo India Games can see many young athletes at a young age to compete and get exposure. At present there are only 5 Sailing clubs active in Bhopal , Kerala ,Pune , Goa and Hyderabad. More number of Sailing clubs needs to added with proper infrastructure.

This Olympics should be just the beginning and in the future, we may get to see more sailors taking up the sport.