Mumbai International Match Race Qualifiers START TODAY !…& RESULTS

23 January 2009 No Comment

The ISAF-Graded Match Racing tournament gets kick-started today with a lot of fanfare and more at the Marine Drive Promenade, Mumbai.

After the mishaps of November last year, the Mumbai International Match Race was postponed due to uncertainity about international participants being able to travel from their countries.

Today, the Saltwater Grill and the Marine Drive concourse towards the end were decked up for the competition.

Yesterday there was a Skippers briefing to emphasize and elaborate on what to expect during the tournament, rules and regulations to be followed, umpiring standards and all other guidelines related to competition.

COMPETITION FORMAT

A total of 14 teams will participate in the first Round Robin, with flights of 7 teams each. The top 4 from each flight will undergo a fight-out in the 2nd Round Robin, which will set the stage for the best 4 teams to compete for the Semi-finals and then the finals.

These earlier battles are ISAF Grade 3 events, with the later stages graded ISAF Grade 2 – the first time in India that an event such has been graded at this level.

The main stage of the MIMR Grade 2 event are to be formally opened on the 26th of January.

INTERNATIONAL TEAMS

3 international match-racing teams have set down in Mumbai for this competition. Russia, Bahrain and Finland have sent down one of their finest teams to participate and fight out with teams from India.

2 more higher-ranked teams will fly in for the later stages of the competition.

RESULTS – DAY 1

From the first flight (there were 30-odd races today!) 1) Mahesh Ramachandran’s Team, 2) Aashim Mongia’s Team and the 3) Bahrain Team proceed to the next round.

From the second flight of races, Nitin Mongia’s Team and Farokh Tarapore’s Team are leading with other races yet to be fought-out tomorrow.

For more, tune into our blog for information at the end of everyday.