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Kasargod to take on Kuttanad

Team from north Kerala will row for Village Boat Club, Edathua.

Alappuzha: The monopoly enjoyed by the people of Kuttanad in the Nehru Trophy Boat Race (NTBR) in Punnamada lake will be challenged by 100 oarsmen from Kasargod this time. They will row the history-maker Nadubhagam Chundan, which was reconstructed last year, in the 64th boat race to be held next month.

The Kasargod men will be rowing for the Village Boat Club, Edathua. Mr John P. Abraham, its former captain, said, “we selected all members from Kasargod this year to get perfect rhythm in throwing the paddle into the waters.” Last year, the club had brought in 50 oarsmen from Kasargod and they were mixed with local men. “As both groups followed different styles of rowing, the team was decimated. They have begun trial in Tejaswini river in Kasagod and the Kuttanad camp will begin by July-end,” he said. Last year, they had got an ill-equipped St. George Chundan.

The Kasargod men made their debut in the Punnamada backwaters with a Veppu Chundan in the 60th anniversary of the race in 2012.

“This time they could emerge as dark horses as they got a well-equipped Nadubhagom Chundan. It was reconstructed with a length of 159 feet under the main ‘asari’ Kozhimukku Sabu Narayanan. It can accommodate 103 oarsmen, including five amaram (main rowers) and 10 singers,” says Joseph Elamkulam, president, Nadubhagom Boat Club. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had jumped into Nadubhagam Chundan during the regatta in 1952.

The oarsmen are being trained under the Vayalkara boat club, which was set up in 1987 by K.C. Girish in Kasargod. The club, which maintains a boat with a capacity to carry 50 people, has won almost all major titles in the northern districts.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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