Asian Games bronze medalist Vishnu Saravanan won the Laser Standard (ILCA-7) Class medal race on Tuesday in the Asian Sailing Championships at the Royal Varuna Yacht Club in Pattaya, Thailand, but had to endure the disappointment of finishing fourth overall and two slots away from securing a berth in the Olympic Games in Paris in July-August 2024.
He could have landed the bronze medal by way of consolation, but the 2 penalty points imposed on him after the medal race saw his total points rise to 60 and net to 44, leaving Malaysia’s Khairulnizam Mohammed Afendy (40 net) with a podium spot behind Hong Kong’s Nicholas Halliday (34) and Thailand’s Arthit Mikhail Romanyk (37).
Disaster stuck the defending champion Vishnu Saravanan in the seventh race on Monday when he finished a shocking 16th after he notched up two wins and a second place earlier. He could discard the 16th place he secured in the second race, but the seventh race hurt his chances a great deal. Even a victory in the ninth race was not enough to lift him to the top two in the regatta.
Prince Noble and Manu Francis claimed India’s only medal by finishing third in the 49er Class where there was only one Olympic slot available from the Asian Championships. They finished well clear of their team-mates KC Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar who were a disappointing eighth in a 21-boat competition.
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Nethra Kumanan raised visions of securing a Laser Radial (ILCA 6) Class ticket to Paris with a consistent showing in the first six races but had a poor day’s racing on Monday to adversely affect her chances. She finished 11th, 10th and 13th in the three races on Monday to go out of medal reckoning and brought up the rear in the Medal Race.
The results (Indians only):
Men
ILCA 7 class: 4. Vishnu Saravanan 60 total (44 net); 12. Mohit Saini 118 (98); 19. Deepak Saini 171 (143).
49er Class: 3. Prince Noble and Manu Francis 81 (68); 8. KC Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar 134.3 (116.3); 14. Anand Thakur and Satyam Rangad 158 (136).
Women
ILCA 6 Class: 7. Nethra Kumanan 85 (72).
Mixed
Nacra 17 Class: 11. Siddeswar Doiphode and Ramya Saravanan 128 (115); 12. Aman Mohan Vyas and Aastha Senapati 153 (140).
470 Class: 9. Shraddha Verma and Ravindra Kumar Sharma 101 (88).
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