Alappuzha: Nadubhagam Chundan, the snake boat of Pallathuruthy Boat Club, lifted the 67th edition of the coveted Nehru Trophy at the Punnamada Lake in Alappuzha on Saturday.
In a nail-biting finish, the Nadubhgam earned nine points, clocking 4.24 minutes to cover the distance of 1,050 metres, leaving behind their fellow competitors 'Chambakkulam
Chundan' and "Karichal Chundan" who came in the second and third positions respectively.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the event in the presence of cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, who was the chief guest of the event. Tendulkar also took a boat ride and cheered the competing teams.
Extending support to the flood-affected people, Tendulkar said, “I know this is a different occasion...this is an occasion to not only celebrate but also overcome all those challenges that happened some time ago. Kerala is back on its feet again.”
While Nadubhagam Chundan won the first round of the Champions Boat League (CBL), Saradhy of Police Boat Club won the Thekkanodi Women Tharavallam final.
A total of 79 boats, including 23 snake boats, participated in the Nehru trophy. Of this, 20 snake boats, including nine CBL teams, are competing in the main race and the remaining three snake boats in the exhibition race.
The next leg is at Thazhathangadi near Kottayam on September 7.
The CBL was originally slated to begin on August 10 but got rescheduled owing to heavy rains that wreaked havoc across the state.
Billed as a game-changing initiative, the CBL (championsboatleague.in) seeks to professionalise Kerala’s largely scattered snake-boat races, while commercialising them without losing the conventional spirit.
Tickets can be booked online through ‘Book my Show’ platform. Among the outlets that facilitate spot purchase of tickets are the District Tourism Office in Kumarakom North and District Tourism Promotion Council at Kodimatha (both around Kottayam, operational till September 7).
The schedule goes thus after the September 7 stage: September 14 (Karuvatta, Alappuzha), 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 (President’s Trophy Boat Race, Kollam).
The Nehru Trophy boat race was instituted to commemorate the visit of the country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to the area and his boat ride in the lake.
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