India’s sailing contingent added another medal to its Asian Games tally as childhood friends Manu Francis and Kurisinkal Noble secured a historic silver in the men’s skiff (49er) event.
The Indian pair of Manu Francis and Kurisinkal Noble bagged the silver medal in the men’s skiff opening race 9 of the Asian Games sailing competition here on Thursday.
The 31-year-old Francis and the 30-year-old Noble, who hail from Kochi and are childhood friends, combined for a total of 23 points after nine races and finished behind China, who totalled 16 points in the competition where the lowest total score wins the regatta.
The Chinese team comprised Wen Zaiding and Liu Tian.
Points in men’s skiff sailing are decided by the finish position in each race and a first place brings in one point to the total.
The Indians managed to win race 3 and finish second race 1, 5 and 9 during the competition. China, on the other hand, emerged on top in four races to end up as the best-placed side.
Skiffs are small light boats.
The bronze in Thursday’s competition went to Hong Kong, China’s Akira Luke Sakai and Russel Aylsworth who ended with a score of 24.
According to a profile shared by Sports Authority of India, Noble and Francis developed an interest in sailing at a young age and trained at the National Sailing School in Bhopal and Muziris Yachting Club in Kerala.
More from SportsThey had earlier combined to win a bronze medal in the Asian sailing Championships.
In the women’s skiff competition, the Indian combo of Harshita Tomar and Shital Verma ended fourth and last after logging 26 points. Japan took the gold in this event with 11 points followed by Hong Kong, China (16) and China (23).
The Indian combination could not win any of the nine races but managed to finish second in race 3 and 4.