CBL-5 Boat-race Begins, Pride Chasers Emerge First at Kainakary

ALAPPUZHA:

The fifth edition of the Champions Boat League (CBL-5) began today with a fierce contest that saw Pride Chasers (Veeyapuram Village Boat Club) clinching a dramatic victory in the opening race of the IPL-style league competition being organized by Kerala Tourism.

Tourism and Public Works Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas, while inaugurating the races at Kainakary, said the state’s tourism department will conduct special promotional programmes the world over to promote the CBL that has emerged as a permanent annual feature.

“Kerala Tourism has launched a special microsite exclusively for the promotion of CBL. It provides comprehensive information on the competing clubs, the history of the boats and the cultural traditions of the venues,” he revealed in the speech online. “In the future, we plan to integrate services such as hotel-booking into it.”

CBL-5 features 14 races and 14 snakeboats. The overall prize money is Rs 5.63 crore.

For four seasons, Tropical Titans (Pallathuruthy Boat Club) had been winning the inaugural CBL race. Pride Chasers put an end to that spree today. They began with a rather slow streak in the first half but displayed an energetic performance while nearing the finishing line. Pride Chasers finished in 3:33.341 minutes, while Tropical Titans, rowing Melpadam Chundan snakeboat, came second in 3:33.625 minutes. Third was Super Oars (3:41.680 minutes) of Niranam Boat Club, rowing Niranam Chundan.

Backwater Warriors (Kumarakom Town Boat Club rowing Payipadaan) came fourth, followed by Backwater Sharks (Thekkekkara Boat Club on Cheruthana). Thunder Oars (Karichal Chundan Boat Club) came sixth. Ripple Breakers (Punnamada Boat Club on Nadubhagam Chundan) came seventh, Wave Gliders (Changanassery Boat Club on Champakulam) finished eighth followed by Chundan Warriors (Emmanuel Boat Club).

Agriculture Minister Shri P Prasad presented the prizes. Kerala Tourism Additional Director (General) Smt Sreedhanya Suresh welcomed the participants at the march-past and flagged off the competitions.

CBL Technical Committee Chairman and former MLA C.K. Sadasivan presided over the inaugural ceremony. Kainakary Grama Panchayat President M.C. Prasad hoisted the flag.

The upcoming matches are Dharmadom (Kannur), Thazhathangadi (Kottayam, September 27), Cheruvathur (Kasaragod, October 2), Piravom (October 4), Marine Drive (Ernakulam, October 11), Beypore (Kozhikode, October 19), Kottappuram (Thrissur, October 25), Pulinkunnu (November 1), Karuvatta (November 8), Pandanad (November 15), Kayamkulam (November 22, Alappuzha), Kallada (Kollam, November 29) and Kollam (December 6, coinciding with President’s Tropy).

The club that wins first place will receive Rs 25 lakh, the runner-up will receive Rs 15 lakh. The team at the third place winner will receive Rs 10 lakh. The winners of each competition will receive Rs 5 lakh, Rs 3 lakh, and Rs 1 lakh for the second and third place winners respectively. Each team will also receive a bonus of Rs 4 lakh.