Nethra Kumanan wins women's dinghy bronze at Asian Games as India collect three sailing medals

Nethra Kumanan won bronze in the women’s dinghy at the Asian Games on Friday, October 2, finishing on the podium at her fourth appearance at the continental event.

Sailing uses a low-score format in which competitors earn points equal to their finishing position in each race; a race victory earns one point. Kumanan accumulated 14 points overall, taking seven points from the qualification races and a further seven across the two finals. She placed sixth in one final race and won the other; Thailand’s Sophia Montgomery took gold with five points and Singapore’s Jania Ang finished second with 13.

The 29-year-old from Chennai is a two-time Olympian and had competed at the 2014, 2018 and 2022 Asian Games, finishing fourth at two of those editions. Her bronze ends a long wait for an Asian Games medal after those previous near-misses.

India missed the podium in the men’s dinghy as Vishnu Saravanan finished fourth overall. The 27-year-old was second in both final races but his qualification score left him with 21 points; Korea’s Jeemin Ha won gold with nine points, Hong Kong, China’s Nicholas Halliday took silver with 11 and Malaysia’s Mohd Khairulnizam completed the podium with 14.

India’s Harshita Tomar and Shital Verma were upgraded to bronze in the women’s skiff after initially finishing fourth in the standings. The Chinese duo were disqualified under rule 30.3 of the sailing rules, also known as the U Flag rule. According to the rule, when the U flag is displayed, a boat must ensure that no part of its hull, crew or equipment enters the triangular area between the starting line and the first mark during the final minute before the starting signal; if a boat enters this area and is identified, it is disqualified without a hearing. The result is recorded as UFS; the upgrade follows Manu Francis and Prince Noble’s silver in the men’s skiff race.

India finished the sailing programme covered in this report with three medals: Nethra Kumanan’s bronze in the women’s dinghy, the upgraded bronze for Harshita Tomar and Shital Verma in the women’s skiff, and the silver won by Manu Francis and Prince Noble in the men’s skiff.