Mumbai boys Upamanyu, Hussain target gold at '14 Asian Games

The duo, Upamanyu Dutta and Hussain Arsiwala, upset the calculations of their senior rivals to finish second in the open 420 class as well as winning the juniors section and have been recommended by the Yachting Association of India to the government for two major sailing events in July.

"Upamanyu and Hussain are among the two boys and two girls' teams proposed by YAI to take part in the Youth World Championships in Ireland from July 12-21 and the 420 World Championships in Austria from July 27-August 5. Expectation is that the government will clear their participation to one of those two events," said former Asian Games sailing medallist and Upamanyu's father Gautam Dutta at a media conference today.

Dutta said his son and Hussain, from the Royal Bombay Yacht Club, have impressed a lot of senior sailors, including veteran sailor and Olympian Farokh Tarapore, at the Chennai Nationals that concluded on May 27.

"The duo is targeting the gold medal in the 2014 Asian Games (in Incheon, South Korea) in the 420 class for under 19 sailors. They have a top sailor like Farokh and others to give them tips," said Dutta.

Upamanyu, who has graduated from optimist to the 420 class, said his combined weight with his crew Hussain (125 kgs) was the ideal one for this class of boat.

"My best performance at the international level was at the Qatar International Regatta where I got a gold medal and a silver in team racing. In the IODA World Championships in Lakgkawi (Malaysia) in 2010 I stood 79th out of 300 competitors in the optimist class," he said.

"They should be taking part in 8-10 top international events over the next two years," Dutta added.