Asian Sailing C'ships 2023: Prince Noble and Manu Francs secure bronze, Olympic quota eludes Team India

The Indian duo of Prince Noble and Manu Francs clinched the Bronze medal in the Men's 49er (Skiff) category at the Asian Sailing Championships 2023. The thrilling competition, held at the Royal Varuna Yacht Club in Pattaya, Thailand, featured sailors from across the continent vying for coveted positions in various Olympic classes.

Despite their impressive performance, India fell short of securing an Olympic quota in this qualifying event for the Paris 2024 Olympics. The championships encompassed six classes, including women’s one person dinghy (ILCA6), men’s one person dinghy (ILCA7), mixed dinghy (470), men's skiff (49er), women's skiff (49erFX), and mixed multihull (Narca17).

Tokyo Olympians Nethra Kumanan and Vishnu Saravanan represented India among the 15-member contingent participating in the Asian Sailing Championships 2023 and Asian Continental Paris 2024 Olympic Qualifier, which took place from December 13 to 19.

Despite a valiant effort by the Indian sailors, Olympic quotas remained elusive. Vishnu Saravanan secured the 4th position out of 46 sailors in the ILCA7 category, while Nethra Kumanan claimed the 7th spot out of 33 sailors in ILCA6. In the 470 class, Shraddha Verma and Ravindra Sharma finished 9th out of 16 teams, and in the Nacra17 category, Siddeshwar/Ramya secured the 11th position out of 12 teams.

In the highly competitive 49er class, K C Ganapathy/Varun Ashok secured the 8th position out of 21 teams, followed by Aanand Thakur/Satyam Rangad at the 14th spot. In the ILCA7 category, Mohit Saini finished 12th out of 46 sailors, while Deepak Saini secured the 19th position.

Aman Mohan Vyas/Aastha Senapati faced tough competition in the Nacra 17 category, finishing 12th out of 12 teams.