Qatari sailors continue domination at Doha regatta

Doha: Qatar Waleed Al Sharshani continued his consistent run of good form in the Qatar Sail 2015 to maintain his place at the top in the Laser Standard category.

The day also saw local sailors dominate in the Laser 4.7 finishing in the top three.

Yesterday Al Sharshani finished with a nett score of 5 at the end of six races and closing following the overnight leader were Kazakhstan duo of Ruslan Jangazou (10) and Vladimir Chshankin (15) in a field which has 12 sailors vying for the top category.

In the Laser 4.7 Abdulrahman Ajineh Ali Al Muftah and Mohammed Al Sewaidi have the local fans a lot to cheer about as the trio held to the overnight position at the top.

Ajinesh has a nett score of five and Muftah and Al Sewaidi have 12 and 13 against their names. Amina shah from Kuwait is the lone female competitor in the section.

But there was setback for the local sailors in the Laser Radial as overnight leader Faris Al Bakri of Qatar slipped from the top to share the first place with Ali Bouhamud of Kuwait.

Incidentally Bakri and Bouhamud are the only male competitors in the category while the four other sailors are females.

Meanwhile in the Optimist class the local sailors could not make much of an impact in a field of 34.

The Singapore squad which has landed in Doha with a big contingent have taken a grip over the top places.

The Singapore sailors are having a field day in the Doha waters which can gauged from the fact that nine places are occupied by them.

The next non-Singapore sailor Sebastian Menzies is from New Zealand is in the tenth place while India’s Neelanand Ramakrishaan is in the 12th spot.

Sailors from 14 countries including Argentina UAE Australia Belgium Great Britain Serbia Kazakhstan Kuwait Italy New Zealand UK Singapore Spain and hosts Qatar are vying for top honours in different categories. Sail Qatar 2015 is one of the two races Qatar Sailing & Water-Sports Federation (QSWSF) is hosting this month. From October 23 to 31 QSWSF will also host the IODA Asian and Oceania Championship.

The QSWSF said top sailors from Asian and world will be seen in action in the championships.

So far 16 countries have confirmed their participation in the IODA Asian and Oceania Championship and a few of them are likely to do so in the coming days.

The Peninsula