Manu Francis and Prince Noble secure India’s first sailing medal at Asian Games 2026

Manu Francis and Prince Noble won silver in the men’s skiff at the Asian Games 2026 on Thursday at Kaiyoh Yacht Harbor, delivering India’s first sailing medal of these Games.

Sailing scoring awarded one point for first place, two for second and so on, with totals aggregated over nine races; the lowest total wins. China’s Wen Zaiding and Liu Tian took gold with 16 points after four race victories, India’s pair finished on 23 points to claim silver, and Hong Kong completed the podium with 24 points.

Francis and Noble secured second place in the ninth and final race at Kaiyoh Yacht Harbor, a result that confirmed their berth on the podium; the margin was small. This was the duo’s first appearance at the continental showpiece.

Over the nine-race series the Indian combination recorded one race win and three second-place finishes. Their consistency across the series contributed to the overall silver-medal result.

The sailors are relatives and childhood friends from Kerala who began sailing at school. They trained at the National Sailing School in Bhopal and the Muziris Yachting Club before joining the Indian Army, where they progressed through its yachting programme.

Their qualification path included a bronze at the Asian Sailing Championships and a first-place finish at the Asian Games selection trial in Mumbai in January. Earlier on the same day India’s women’s squash team took bronze after a 1-2 semi-final loss to Hong Kong, raising India’s squash medal count at Aichi-Nagoya to four; Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh had previously won singles silver, and Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar secured mixed doubles bronze.

India’s sailing medal tally at the Asian Games now stands at 24: 1 gold, 9 silver and 14 bronze. The nation’s sole sailing gold came at New Delhi 1982, won by Farokh Tarapore and Zarir Karanjia.