Asian Open Championships 2024 sailing: Vishnu Saravanan overcomes health issues to win bronze medal
Nethra Kumanan finished eighth in the women’s dinghy event at the competition held in Haikou, China.
Sailing
India’s Vishnu Saravanan, despite suffering from adverse health issues, won a bronze medal in the men’s dinghy event at the Asian Open Championships 2024 sailing competition, which concluded in Haikou, the People’s Republic of China, on Sunday.
Vishnu Saravanan, a two-time Olympian and bronze medallist from the Hangzhou Asian Games 2023, tallied 36 net total points from his 10 races to finish third in a field of 47.
Malaysian veteran Khairulnizam Afendy won the gold with a net total of 28 while Hong Kong China’s Nicholas Halliday took the silver with 30. Lower scores are better in sailing.
Vishnu Saravanan won the final race of the series of 10 while his worst finish was 16th in race 5.
Earlier this year, Vishnu Saravanan became only the second man to represent India in sailing at multiple Olympic Games after Farokh Tarapore. He competed at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.
Nethra Kumanan, another Indian Olympian, finished eighth in the women’s dinghy event at Haikou with a net total of 77 points.
Local sailor Zitong Shang topped the 43-woman field with a net total of 46 while Shang’s fellow Chinese sailor Dong Shuang Zhang won bronze with 59.
Hong Kong China took silver again in the event with Stephanie Norton finishing between the two Chinese sailors with a score of 57.
Meanwhile, India’s Maanya Reddy came in 28th in the Under-18 ILCA4 girls’ event with a net total of 228.
The Asian Open Championships 2024 sailing event was held from December 11 to 20 at the Haikou National Sailing Base. This year’s competition was the biggest yet, with 250 competitors from 17 countries and regions around the world competing.