Tarapore qualifies for Asian Games

Veteran sailor and Arjuna awardee Farokh Tarapore and team-mates Balraj, S S Yadav, Atool Sinha and Trunal Helegaonkar won the selection trials for the 16th Asian Games, to be held in Guangzhou, China, in November.

Tarapore will thus represent the country for the eighth consecutive time at the Asian Games since his debut in 1982, an unprecedented feat in any other discipline.

The Navy officer, who won the Fireball class title in the 1982 Games, in India - the country's first and only sailing gold, has never lost a selection trial for the Asian Games and won it this month despite being the underdog.

He considers this performance as the most creditable because it is for the first time he was billed as the underdog.

The seasoned sailor, whose dream is to win another sailing gold medal at the Asian Games, expects stiff competition at the quadrennial event from Japan, Singapore, China, South Korea and other Asian countries.

With his Naval background, Tarapore has prepared a battle plan for the Asiad and is confident that support from the Yachting Association of India, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and the Sports Authority of India would make his dream come true.