Neha Thakur sails to silver, Eabad Ali takes bronze

Ningbo (China), September 26

Neha Thakur, 17, led the show with a silver medal while Eabad Ali claimed bronze as India bagged two medals in sailing at the Asian Games here today. Neha powered India to the first medal of the day when she finished second in girl’s dinghy ILCA-4 event.

India’s second medal came in the men’s windsurfer RS:X event, where Ali, with a net score of 52 points, came third behind Natthaphong Phonoppharat of Thailand and gold medallist Wonwoo Cho of South Korea.

In a gruelling 14-race event, Ali’s worst race was second and third where he did not finish as seven points were deducted from his total 59 points. In the end, there was a big 23-point gap between Ali and the silver medallist.

A rising sailor from National Sailing School in Bhopal, Neha finished with a total of 32 points but her net score of 27 helped her earn the second spot behind gold medallist Noppassorn Khunboonjan of Thailand. Singapore’s Kiera Marie Carlyle settled for bronze with a net score of 28. In sailing, the competitor’s worst score from all the races is subtracted from the total points to determine the net score. The one with the lowest net score is adjudged the winner. The girl’s dinghy ILCA-4 category consists of 11 races and Neha finished with 32 total points. Neha’s worst race was the fifth one, where she got five points to end with a net score of 27.