India clinches men’s skiff silver in Asiad sailing
The Indian pair of Manu Francis and Prince Kurisinkal Noble bagged the silver medal in the men’s skiff opening race 9 of the Asian Games sailing competition here on Thursday.
The team of Harshita Tomar and Shital Verma won the bronze medal in the women’s skiff sailing event. The Indian duo concluded the competition with 24 net points and 28 total points across nine races to finish ahead of China, who were disqualified thrice in race 2, race 6 and race 8. Japan won the gold medal with 11 net points and 14 total points, while Hong Kong bagged silver with 15 net points and 18 total points.
Earlier, the 31-year-old Francis and the 30-year-old Noble, who hail from Ernakulam and are first cousins, combined for a total of 23 points after nine races and finished behind China, who totalled 16 points in the competition where lowest total score wins the regatta.
The Chinese team comprised Wen Zaiding and Liu Tian.
Points in men’s skiff sailing are decided by the finish position in each race and a first place brings in one point to the total.
The Indians managed to win race 3 and finish second race 1, 5 and 9 during the competition. China, on the other hand, emerged on top in four races to end up as the best-placed side. Son of a fisherman, who had died during the 2018 catastrophic flood in Kerala, Noble said winning a medal in his debut Asian Games was a special feeling. “It was our first Asiad and winning a medal is very special. It was a tough and we somehow won silver,” Noble said.
Both train at the Army Yachting Node in Mumbai.
“It was very tough actually. It was windy. We are not much comfortable with windy conditions. But we survived and somehow won a silver,” Francis said.
“In light (windy) conditions, we are pretty good. We train in India, and in India almost every time it is light wind.”
For Francis, it was a mixed feeling as he felt they could have won gold.
“We don’t feel much about it. Happy and not that much happy. Because we could have won the gold,” he said.
