India to send sailors for Olympic Qualifiers in Oman from April 1 to 8.

Officials are in a race against time to bring the boats to Oman from Abu Dhabi where the qualifiers were originally supposed to be held.

Jitendra Dixit, Jt. Secretary of YAI (Centre) said that if the boats cannot be transferred from Abu Dhabi in time, arrangements will be made to hire boats in Oman.

India will send sailors in four classes--49er (men & women), laser standard, laser radial and windsurfing--for the Olympic qualifiers to be held in Oman from April 1 to 8. "Since it is an open event, anybody can participate through their own arrangement: either through their State Governments or their respective clubs.  But this team will be sponsored by the Indian Government," Jitendra Dixit, Jt. Secretary of Yachting Association of India (YAI), told The Hindu here on Tuesday. The Indian sailboats have been stranded in Abu Dhabi as the qualifier was originally scheduled there last year, but was cancelled due to the pandemic. YAI is now making all efforts to get the boats transferred to Oman on time.

"It is a logistical nightmare and we are running against time. We are hoping to get it done by road. In case we are not able to do that, we are planning to hire boats in Oman, that is the back-up," said the YAI Jt. Secretary.

The team: 49er (men): Varun Thakkar & K. C. Ganapathy (TNSA), Prince & Manu (AYN), Sandeep & Munna (AYN); 49er FX (women): Ekta & Rithika (NSS, Bhopal); laser standard (men): Vishnu Saravanan, Mohit Saini, Gitesh (all AYN); laser radial (women): Nethra Kumanan (TNSA), 2. Ramya Saravanan (EMESA, Secunderabad), Harshita Tomar (NSS, Bhopal); Windsurfing: RFX  (men): Jerome (AYN), Ebad Ali (AYN); (women): Ishwarya Ganesh (TNSA).