Tokyo Olympics sailing: KC Ganapathy, Varun Thakkar record best qualifying result yet

Indian sailors KC Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar finished fifth in qualifying race six of the men’s 49er class - their best finish yet - at the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday.

The Indian sailing team had initially finished ninth on the course.

However, the Swiss and the Portuguese teams, who finished sixth and seventh respectively, were handed an automatic ‘U Flag’ disqualification for being over the start line in the minute before the starting signal was sounded.

As a result, the Irish team, who finished eighth, were moved up to sixth and the Indian pair upgraded to seventh.

The Irish team were then disqualified, as were race-winners Brazil, which gave the Indian team another two places - and they were placed fifth.

The KC Ganapathy/Varun Thakkar team was fourth after the second mark but fell back to ninth after the third and eventually finished in that position before going up to fifth.

KC Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar had earlier finished 16th in the fifth qualifying race and they now occupy 17th place overall. The men’s 49er team needs to be in the top-10 after a total of 12 qualifying races to be eligible for the medal race.

Meanwhile, Vishnu Saravanan had a tough day as he finished 27th and 23rd in races seven and eight, respectively, in the men’s laser standard class. He is placed 23rd in the overall standings.

India’s Nethra Kumanan also had a rough day in the waters in the women’s laser radial. She finished 22nd in race seven and 20th in race eight and is now 31st overall.

All four Indian sailors are making their Olympics debuts in Tokyo.