Asian Games 2023 sailing: Neha Thakur wins silver in girls’ dinghy; Eabad Ali bags bronze in men’s windsurfer

India’s Neha Thakur won a silver medal in the girls’ dinghy ILCA4 sailing event while Eabad Ali bagged a bronze in the men's windsurfer RS:X category at the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou, the People’s Republic of China on Tuesday.

In the girls’ dinghy ILCA4 event at the Ningbo Xiangshan Sailing Centre, Neha Thakur clinched silver with 27 net points from her 11 races.

Placed second after the first 10 races of the series, Neha Thakur came in fourth in her final race on Tuesday and just about managed to hold her position in the final standings. There were eight participants in the girls’ dinghy ILCA4 event.

Thailand’s Noppassorn Khunboonjan comfortably won the gold with 16 net points while Singapore’s Keira Marie Carlyle, who won the final race, claimed bronze with 28. Lower scores are better in sailing.

Soon after Neha Thakur logged the first entry in India’s sailing medals tally at the Asian Games 2023, Eabad Ali took centrestage with a bronze in the men's windsurfer RS:X category.

Eabad Ali’s 52 net points from 14 races put him behind the Republic of Korea’s Cho Wonwoo (13) and Thailand’s Natthaphong Phonoppharat (29). Only six sailors competed in the men's windsurfer RS:X event.

KC Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar, bronze medallists from Jakarta 2018, narrowly missed out on a podium spot in the men's skiff 49er. The Indian duo was in fourth place in the standings after Monday’s races but a second-place finish in race 13 lifted them to third.

KC Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar, however, failed to follow it up in the final race. a fifth-place finish in race 14 saw them finish fifth overall in the final standings with a net points count of 48.

China, Oman and Hong Kong China took the podium spots in the event.

India’s Siddeshwar Indar Doiphode-Ramya Saravanan took the fourth position in the five-team mixed multihull Nacra 17 event, accumulating 45 net points from the 14-race series.

Harshita Tomar-Shital Verma, in women’s skiff 49erFX, also finished just outside the podium spots after raking in 47 net points from 14 races.

Ishwariya Ganesh’s 44 net points from a series of 14 races placed her at the bottom of the pile in women's windsurfer RS:X. Only four sailors competed in the category.

Adhvait Menon, competing in boys’ dinghy ILCA4, meanwhile, managed to finish eighth overall with 76 net points. Sudhanshu Shekhar and Preeti Kongara claimed the sixth position in the seven-crew mixed dinghy 470 with 51 net points from 12 races.