Nethra Kumanan is poised to make history by becoming the first Indian woman sailor to head to the Olympic Games. Competing in the Laser Radial class in the Mussanah Open Sailing Championship, an Olympic qualifier, in the Gulf of Oman off the Millennium Resort in Musannah, Oman, she finished well on top in the opening series of 10 races on Wednesday.
She has only to finish the 10-boat Medal Race on Thursday without incident to confirm her trip to Tokyo. Nethra Kumanan holds a 3-point lead over Emma Charlotte Jeanne Savelon but the Dutchwoman is not in the hunt for an Olympic berth in the competition here. Her nearest rival for an Olympic slot is an Indian, Ramya Saravanan, is a good 21 points away. Though there are two Olympic berths to be had in this class in Mussanah, each country can win only one slot.
With two podium finishes in the Skiff 49er class on Wednesday, top-placed KC Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar (51 points) ensured that the gap with their nearest rivals, Akira Sakai and Russel Williams Ayslworth would be a decent 12 points. Yet, they would be the first to concede that they can have no room for complacency in the medal race against the Hong Kong crew.
It cannot be overlooked that Akira Sakai and Russel Williams Ayslworth have won as many as six races, including a hat-trick on Wednesday, and finished second in two of the 15 races in the opening series. The Indians have been rocksteady, with seven podium finishes including one win, and will have to be at their best to confirm their ticket to the Tokyo Olympic Games later this year.
The other Indian in with a chance of making it to the Olympic regatta, Vishnu Saravanan (Laser Standard) ceded some ground and is in third place after a couple of poor races on Wednesday. He has the task of not only beating Thailand’s Keerati Bualong but also ensuring that China’s Wu Jiannan and Hong Kong’s Nick Bezy (55 points each) do not finish ahead of him in the medal race.
It will be the first time since 2008 that the Indian flag will fly at an Olympic Games sailing venue.
The Indian placings with penalties after five days (discarded race shown in bold):
Laser Standard (10 races): 3. Vishnu Saravanan 51 (3, 11, 2, 4, 3, 10, 3, 4, 12, 11); 10. Upamanyu Dutta 76 (6, 5, 13, 11, 8, 7, 18, 3, 10, 14); 12. Mohit Saini 81 (14, 9, 14, 5, 5, 8, 10, 13, 5, 12); 14. Gitesh 110 (13, 19, 11, 21DSQ, 14, 11, 11, 14, 9, 8). 17. Ram Milan Yadav 143 (12, 17, 19, 18, 20, 19, 9, 15, 16, 18).
Laser Radial (10 races): 1. Nethra Kumanan 18 (2, 7, 1, 2, 1, 1, 3, 5, 1, 2); 3. Ramya Saravanan 39 (13 DSQ, 3, 5, 4, 3, 5, 8, 4, 2, 5); 5. Harshita Tomar 43 (4 2, 9, 7, 7, 8, 1, 1, 6, 7); 12. Jayalakshmi Sundaravadivel 101 (11, 10, 12, 11, 12, 11, 11, 11, 12, 12).
Skiff 49er (15 races): 1. KC Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar 51 points (5, 10, 3, 4, 5, 3, 3, 1, 2, 7, 5, 4, 4, 2, 3); 11. Prince Kurisinkal Noble and Manu Francis 120 (2, 11, 13, 3, 15 DNF, 10, 7, 5, 6, 11, 10, 10, 15 UFD, 9, 8); 12. Sandip Jain and Munna Pandit 123 (12, 13, 4, 15UFD, 11, 4, 13, 9, 8, 10, 6, 6, 10, 12, 4).
Skiff 49er FX (15 races): 4. Ekta Yadav and Ritika Dangi 47 points (3, 4, 1, 4, 4, 3, 4, 4, 5, 3, 4, 3, 2, 5, 3).
Windsurfer RS:X (Men) (12 races): 6. Jerome Kumar Savarimuthu 65 points (11, 9, 6, 4, 4, 3, 3, 5, 7, 6, 9, 9); 7. Ebad Ali 66 (3, 7, 4, 10, 6, 8, 5, 10, 11, 3, 5, 5).
Windsurfer RS: X (Women) (12 races): 3. Ishwarya Ganesh 33 points (2, 3, 3, 4 DNF, 4 NSC, 3, 3, 2, 3, 2, 4 DNF, 4DNF).
Image: Nethra Kumanan (Courtesy: Nethra Kumanan’s Instagram Page)
