Laser World Championship sailing: Vishnu Saravanan 34th after qualifying races

Indian sailor Vishnu Saravanan slipped down to 34th while his compatriot Mohit Saini was 83rd after the end of qualification rounds at the men’s Laser World Championships 2021 in Barcelona, Spain on Monday.

Three more races were held on the last day of qualification at the Barcelona International Sailing Center, taking the total to five qualifying races. Six qualifying races were originally slated but poor weather meant that one had to be dropped.

Tokyo Olympian Vishnu Saravanan was 23rd after two qualifying races, having finished 15th in race 1 and 10th in race 2.

The 22-year-old Vishnu had a challenging race 3, finishing 46th but improved later in the day to take the 26th and 15th positions in race 4 and 5, respectively.

Since sailors are allowed to discard their worst finish of the five races, Vishnu Saravanan ended with a net total of 66 points (15, 10, 26, 15) and will now join the gold fleet with 67 other sailors for the finals.

Mohit Saini, on the other hand, finished the last three qualifying races in 49th, 31st and 41st, adding to his 49th and 18th place finish in the opening two.

Saini was able to discard a 49th place finish and ended with a net total of 139 points. He will join the silver fleet with 66 other sailors for the finals.

A total of 139 sailors from 44 countries were listed to compete in the Laser World Championships.

The top spots were occupied by European champion Elliot Hanson of Britain and the Russian Yachting Federation's Sergei Komissarov, with both sailors on 15 points. Thomas Saunders of New Zealand was third in the standings.

The regatta has been facing delays due to unfavourable weather conditions, with two qualifying races each on the opening day and the third day cancelled due to lack of winds.

With stronger winds in forecast, three races are scheduled for Tuesday for both the gold and silver fleets.