KOTTAYAM:
Tropical Titans repeated their stellar performance and won the second leg of the pioneering Champions Boat League (CBL) here today, ahead of Mighty Oars and Pride Chasers who emerged second and third in a photo finish.
Tropical Titans timed 3:23:86 in the final, while Mighty Oars finished at 3:25.49 and Pride Chasers at 3:25.85 at the end of the second round of the CBL modelled on IPL cricket. The three-month CBL is being organised by Kerala Tourism. Pride Chasers, who clocked the best timing of 3:21.52 of the day, were declared ‘Nerolac Excel Fastest Team of the Day” and earned five extra points.
Finishing fourth at the Meenachil River races at Thazhathangadi was Raging Rowers (Police Boat Club), clocking 3:25.97after topping the second losers’ final. Coast Dominators (3:28.78) finished fifth and Thunder Oars (3:30.17) sixth, respectively. In the losers’ final, Backwater Warriors (3:37.13) finished first, thus making it to the seventh position. Backwater Ninjas (3:40.67) finished eighth and Backwater Knights (3:42.31) ninth.
The next leg is on September 14 at Karuvatta in Alappuzha district. Today’s winner,Tropical Titans, captained by Narayanan Kutty, secured Rs 5 lakh, followed by Rs 3 lakh (Mighty Oars) and Rs 1 lakh (Pride Chasers) for finishing second and third, respectively. All participating teams are entitled to Rs 4 lakh per match.
The overall winner of the championships will get Rs 25 lakh, followed by Rs 12 lakh and Rs 10 lakh for the second and third prize winners.
Kerala Tourism Secretary Rani George attended the Thazhathangadi round of CBL. Also present were Kerala Tourism Director P Bala Kiran and Kottayam District Collector P K Sudheer Babu. Today’s CBL races were held alongside the traditional Kottayam Thazhathangadi Boat Race that has a history dating from 1885.
Tropical Titans (traditionally Pallathuruthi Boat Club) had won the first round of the CBL on August 31, also finishing first in the 67th Nehru Trophy Boat Race held that evening at Alappuzha’s sprawling Punnamada Lake here. Finishing second in the inaugural leg was Coast Dominators (United Boat Club, Kainakary), while Raging Rowers (Police Boat Club) finished third.
The CBL was inaugurated at Alappuzha’s Punnamada Lake on August 31. Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar was the star guest at the opening event that was flagged off by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The CBL, overall, features 12 rounds of races slated across Saturdays till November 23.
The races were broadcast live, and will continue to be so during the rest of the legs. Star Sports 2, Star Sports 2 HD, Star Sports 1 Tamil, Asianet Worldwide, Asianet Plus, Hotstar, ETV Andhra Pradesh and ETV Telangana will beam the event for an hour from 4 pm. Tickets can be booked online through ‘Book my Show’ platform, besides 20 outlets that facilitate spot purchase of tickets. The prices range from Rs 200 to Rs 2,000.
The schedule after the September 14 stage is as follows: : September 28 (Piravam, Ernakulam district), October 5 (Marine Drive, Kochi), October 12 (Kottappuram, Thrissur district), October 19 (Ponnani, Malappuram), October 26 (Kainakari, Alappuzha), November 2 (Pulinkunnu, Alappuzha district), November 9 (Kayamkulam, Alappuzha), November 16 (Kallada, Kollam district) and November 23 (Kollam, President’s Trophy Boat Race).
Tickets can be booked online through ‘Book my Show’ platform, besides outlets that facilitate spot purchase of tickets.
