Asian Federation delighted with quality of Abu Dhabi meet despite thunderstorms

Matt Jones - Editor 13:41 14/03/2016
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  • Rio reality: Yukio Makino (r).

    That pushed the overall number of Asian sailors scheduled to compete in Rio past the 30 mark in an overall field of 300. The Championships were held over six days on the shores of the capital’s Corniche when it looked initially as if the event may be cancelled as the Emirates were battered by thunderstorms last week.

    Although racing was abandoned on Wednesday, the event concluded on Saturday, and Asian Sailing Federation (ASAF) chiefs were

    delighted.

    “We had a great event despite some disruption and overall, sailors went back satisfied,” said ASAF competition director, Ajay Narang.

    “This is the first time World Sailing has decided on a continental qualification system for the Olympics. In the history of Asian sailing, this was by far the biggest event in Olympic classes.”

    A total of 133 sailors from 40 countries competed for the nine Olympic spots in six different categories and, with Asia now beginning to make its mark on the sport around the globe, ASAF is determined to keep those figures rising.

    Two sailors heading to Brazil in August include Japan duo Yukio Makino and Kenji Takahashi who won the 49er division, with Makino set to compete in his third successive Games having featured in 2008 and 2012, and Narang believes the duo are prime examples of the progress Asian sailing has made.

    “Until 2004 we had two or three Asians in the Olympics. For 2016, 22 have already qualified plus nine from this event, so there will be over 30 Asian sailors out of 300, which is a great thing. It bodes well for the future of sailing in Asia. It’s catching up fast,” he said.

    Narang puts that progress down to two things – individual development of athletes and the determination of ASAF. “In the earlier Olympics there were classes that weren’t suitable for Asian sailors. They didn’t have enough body weight, Asians are usually too slim, so it was a mismatch. But now, with faster skiffs, there is more scope for Asians to compete,” said Narang.

    “As a federation, we changed our course in 2012 and made major amendments to our constitution. We’ve really got things on track and have been pushing Asia for the last four years to do as many Olympic classes as possible and I think we’ve achieved our aim partially.”

    ASAF has targeted between 70 and 90 Asian sailors entering the next Olympics in Tokyo 2020 and Narang believes they are on course to do that. “For the 2020 Olympics we want to see at least 70-90 sailors from Asia, if we continue to work hard we will get there,” he added.

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