Smooth Sailing

BAHRAIN yesterday had a convincing start to the Kingdom of Bahrain Regatta Championships, which got underway at the Bahrain Sailing Club near Al Jazayer Beach in Zallaq.
The hosts, skippered by Ebrahim Abdulla, won four of their six matches in the Match Racing Championship, featuring J24 boats.
Abdulla's squad, comprising Ahmed Al Naar, Ahmed Abdulla, Mariam Telfat and Mustafa Janahi, kick-started their campaign with a defeat to favourites Russia 'B'.
The Russians were skippered by veteran Sergey Musikhin, who is making his third successive visit to the Bahrain event. Also spearheading Russia 'A' are Pavel Trofimchuk, Kirill Luzin and Yury Popev.
Eight flights in total took place yesterday on the inaugural day of the event, being organised by the Bahrain Maritime Sports Association for the 10th consecutive year.
And after receiving a bye in the second flight, Bahrain were back in action in the third, this time they took on Salem Al Fahad-coached Kuwaitis.
Bahrain showed superior controlling skills to win the match and bounce back to the competition.
It was the first defeat for the Kuwaiti team, consisting of Abdulaziz Gambar, Khalid Faisal, Meshaal Al Azmi and Mohammed Al Bastiki, who suffered three more defeats while winning their match of the day against Egypt,
Egypt, making their first-ever visit to the tournament, are being skippered by Medhat Ghazal, lost their next game against Bahrain, who made it two wins in three games.
The Egyptians are also being represented by Mohammed Raouf, Essam Olwy, Mohammed El Shenawy and Marwan Shrawy.
Bahrain's next opponents were Estonia, one of the best teams in the Europe. Skippered by Mati Sepp, a well known name in the Bahrain event, proved too strong for the home team who suffered their second loss of the day.
Also spearheading Estonia in the Match Racing Championship are Janno Hool, Karl Klok and Raul Grigoljev.
Despite the defeat, the Bahrainis' morale was still high, impressively winning their remaining two matches against Morten Jakobsen-skippered Thailand and Russia 'A', skippered byAndrey Arbuzov.
Estonia lead the championship with five wins in six matches. They are being followed by Bahrain and Russia 'A' tied second with four victories for each, but with the latter having a match in hand.
Meanwhile, the Fleet Championship is set to commence today. This event consists of three classes - Laser Standard, Laser Radial and the Optimist.
Eight teams from eight different nations are taking part in the other fleet racing event, which comprises laser standard, laser radial and optimist racers.
Participants in this class are Bahrain, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Oman.
Coached Kasem Ben Jemia, Bahrain is being represented by nine sailors in total. In the Laser Standard, Abdulla Janahi is the only Bahraini contestant in the fray.
Faisal Al Naar, Dawood Abdulla and Ebrahim Daij will sail for Bahrain i the Laser Radial.
In the Optimist class, open for young sailors aged below 15 years, the hosts will be spearheaded by Ebrahim Shuwaiter, Saud Al Naar, Omar Hazeem and Jassim Shuwaiter.
The championship is supported by the Bahrain Jewellery Centre, the exclusive dealers for Omega watches, who are the main sponsors.
Other sponsors are GPIC, Asry, Bapco, Banagas and the Bahrain Olympic Committee.