Olympic spot one step closer on penultimate day of Mussanah Open Championship

Olympic spot one step closer on penultimate day of Mussanah Open Championship

The penultimate day of racing at the Mussanah Open Championship ended in dramatic fashion as sailors across five classes pushed themselves to the limits to end the day in contention for honours tomorrow. With Olympic qualification within touching distance, tension was high and in great conditions, the sailors had to use all of their experience to gain the small advantages that could prove so important in the final rankings.

After the second to last rounds of racing, the 49er class remains as tight as ever. Indian pair of KC Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar retain top spot for the third successive day but the team of Akira Sakai and Russel Aylsworth representing Hong Kong won all three of today’s rounds to propel themselves into second place ahead of the Chinese team of Hong Wei and Chao Xiang in third. The Omani team of Musab Al Hadi and Waleed Al Kindi ended the day in fifth place two points off a medal position. The fleet is incredible close with five points separating third and sixth place meaning Olympic qualification will come down to the final three rounds.

There was no change in the standings in the 49er FX class with China’s Ye Jin and Chen Shasha holding a narrow lead over Molly Highfield and Sandy Wing Chi Choi from Hong Kong. Thailand’s Kamonchanok Klahan and Nichapa Waiwai remain in third place just ahead of India’s Ekta Yadav and Ritika Dangi in fourth.

Speaking after the races, 49er FX sailor Molly Highfield, currently second in the rankings, said, “It was a beautiful day out on the water today. A great competition with great sailing, and it was quite tight. We found ourselves in a couple of tricky spots sometimes but managed to pull through and we’re really looking forward to one more race tomorrow. Every day we get to sail here is a privilege.”

In the Laser class, Ryan Lo Jun Han retained top spot today with two first place finishes. He now holds a commanding lead over the fleet. Keerati Bualong of Thailand is second with India’s Vishnu Saravanan third, China’s Jiannan Wu fourth, Nick Bezy of Hong Kong fifth and Arthit Romanyk of Thailand in sixth as just eight points separating the five sailors.

Nethra Kumaman of India is still at the top of the leaderboard today in the Laser Radial class, with a narrow lead over sailor Emma Savelon in second. However, with eight points separating third and seventh there is all to play for tomorrow. Ramya Saravanan of India is currently third, fourth is Stephanie Norton from Hong Kong, India’s Harshita Tomar is fifth, Nancy Highfield of Hong Kong sits in sixth and Kim Jia of South Korea is seventh but all have a chance of claiming a medal position tomorrow.

In the RS:X men’s class, the impressive Thai windsurfer Natthapong Phonoppharat maintains a strong lead from Filipino duo Yancy Kaibigan and Geylord Coveta headed into the final day. Thailand’s Navin Singsart in fourth, India’s Jerome Savarimuthu in fifth and Renz Amboy in sixth are still in contention for medals tomorrow. In the women’s class, Amanda Ng Ling Kai from Singapore holds a narrow lead over Charizanne Napa of the Philippines. India’s Ishwariya Ganesh remains in third.

Charizanne Napa, said, “The weather was changeable today and the wind kept shifting. I found it difficult today but tomorrow is crucial. Amanda (Ng Ling Kai of Singapore) has been so fast over the past few days but the race is close and I expect tomorrow will be tough.”

Amanda Ng Ling Kai, said, “Two days before the start of the competition I fell quite badly and suffered a suspected MCL tear. In the beginning I was really devastated, crying, thinking I couldn’t sail anymore. The first day I couldn’t walk and the second day it was still really sore but slowly it felt better and there are so many people back home supporting me so I had to give it my all, fight hard, try to finish the races without any DNFs and get to the Olympics.”

Thursday is the final day of competition where the winners and Olympic qualification will be decided. The medal race in each class will be a one-off round for the top 10 boats. If the class does not have 10 boats, then it will be for open to all remaining competitors. Points will be added to the accumulated totals over the entire week.

Joe Rafferty, Event Strategy for race organisers Oman Sail, explained that race integrity will be paramount tomorrow. He said, “Teams will have to bring their boats to a restricted technical area where they will be inspected by the technical officials. They cannot touch their boats again until they go onto the water. If we find that the boats have been tampered with since the original measurement on the first day, which we have marked with stickers and seals, then the team will be disqualified. There is a lot to play for in all of the classes tomorrow so maintaining fairness is incredibly important.”

The Mussanah Open Championship is supported by host venue Millennium Resort Mussanah with addition sponsorship from the International Maritime College Oman (IMCO), Salsabeel water from National mineral water company, Carrefour Oman and OHI Telecommunications. The competition will close with a prizegiving and closing ceremony to honour the participants, sponsors and event officials who have made the event such a success.

Overall Standings

49er Class

Sailed: 15, Discards: 1, To count: 14, Entries: 14, Scoring system: Appendix A
Rank SailNo HelmName CrewName R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 Total Nett
1st IND 316 Ganapathy Kelapanda Chengappa Varun Ashok Thakkar 5.0 (10.0) 3.0 4.0 5.0 3.0 3.0 1.0 2.0 7.0 5.0 4.0 4.0 2.0 3.0 61.0 51.0
2nd HKG 880 Akira Sakai Russel Williams Aylsworth 10.0 1.0 12.0 11.0 1.0 (15.0 UFD) 2.0 4.0 1.0 9.0 7.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 78.0 63.0
3rd CHN 251 Hong Wei Chao Xiang 1.0 4.0 2.0 5.0 (12.0) 8.0 5.0 2.0 9.0 6.0 1.0 8.0 8.0 3.0 11.0 85.0 73.0
4th RSA 470 Benjamin Talbot Daniel Alex Burger 7.0 2.0 7.0 7.0 6.0 2.0 1.0 3.0 7.0 4.0 (12.0) 11.0 2.0 5.0 10.0 86.0 74.0
5th OMA 145 Musab Al Hadi Waleed Issa AlKindi 11.0 6.0 8.0 1.0 2.0 1.0 9.0 (12.0) 5.0 3.0 9.0 3.0 3.0 8.0 6.0 87.0 75.0
6th THA 279 Don Whitcraft Dylan Whitcraft 9.0 5.0 10.0 2.0 3.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 3.0 8.0 2.0 7.0 7.0 (11.0) 4.0 89.0 78.0
7th KOR200 Bong Jin Chae Shin Sangoin 8.0 3.0 9.0 (15.0 DNF) 4.0 9.0 4.0 15.0 DSQ 4.0 5.0 8.0 1.0 9.0 6.0 2.0 102.0 87.0
8th CHN616 Wang Xin Zhou Zhibo 3.0 7.0 1.0 8.0 9.0 (15.0 UFD) 8.0 11.0 10.0 1.0 4.0 9.0 6.0 7.0 9.0 108.0 93.0
9th CHN555 Zaiding Wen Liuhan Wang 4.0 8.0 11.0 9.0 10.0 6.0 12.0 6.0 12.0 12.0 3.0 (15.0 UFD) 5.0 4.0 7.0 124.0 109.0
10th KOR411 Won Jae Lee Lee Dong Gyu 6.0 9.0 5.0 10.0 7.0 7.0 11.0 8.0 11.0 2.0 11.0 5.0 11.0 10.0 (12.0) 125.0 113.0
11th IND 301 Prince Kurisinkal Noble Manu Francis 2.0 11.0 13.0 3.0 (15.0 DNF) 10.0 7.0 5.0 6.0 11.0 10.0 10.0 15.0 UFD 9.0 8.0 135.0 120.0
12th IND 104 Jain Sandip Munna Pandit 12.0 13.0 4.0 (15.0 UFD) 11.0 4.0 13.0 9.0 8.0 10.0 6.0 6.0 10.0 12.0 5.0 138.0 123.0
13th OMA173 Ahmed AlHasani AbdulRahman Al Mashri 13.0 12.0 6.0 6.0 8.0 11.0 10.0 10.0 13.0 (15.0 DNC) 15.0 DNC 15.0 DNC 15.0 DNC 15.0 DNC 15.0 DNC 179.0 164.0
14th TUN 506 Hedi Gharib Fourat Gueddena 14.0 14.0 14.0 (15.0 DNF) 15.0 DNF 12.0 14.0 15.0 DNC 15.0 DNC 15.0 DNF 15.0 DNF 12.0 12.0 13.0 13.0 208.0 193.0

49er FX Class

Sailed: 15, Discards: 1, To count: 14, Entries: 6, Scoring system: Appendix A
Rank SailNo HelmName CrewName R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 Total Nett
1st CHN 619 Chen Shasha Ye Jin 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 3.0 1.0 1.0 (5.0) 4.0 1.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 1.0 2.0 31.0 26.0
2nd HKG 852 Molly Highfield Sandy Wing Chi Choi          4.0 3.0 4.0 1.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 (5.0) 5.0 1.0 1.0 2.0 1.0 34.0 29.0
3rd THA 286 Kamonchanok Klahan Nichapa Waiwai 2.0 1.0 3.0 3.0 5.0 (7.0 DNC) 3.0 3.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 7.0 UFD 4.0 3.0 5.0 52.0 45.0
4th IND 604 Ekta Yadav Ritika Dangi 3.0 4.0 1.0 4.0 4.0 3.0 4.0 4.0 (5.0) 3.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 5.0 3.0 52.0 47.0
5th CHN 228 Huijia Yu Mengting Wang 5.0 5.0 5.0 (7.0 DNS) 2.0 4.0 5.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 4.0 4.0 62.0 55.0
6th TUN 625 Eya Guezguez Sarra Guezguez 6.0 6.0 6.0 (7.0 DNC) 7.0 DNC 7.0 DNC 7.0 DNF 7.0 DNF 7.0 DNC 7.0 DNF 6.0 7.0 DNC 6.0 7.0 DNF 7.0 DNF 100.0 93.0

Laser Radial Class

Sailed: 10, Discards: 1, To count: 9, Entries: 12, Scoring system: Appendix A
Rank SailNo HelmName CrewName R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 Total Nett
1st IND 217554 Nethra Kumanan 2.0 (7.0) 1.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 3.0 5.0 1.0 2.0 25.0 18.0
2nd NED 220808 Emma Charlotte Jeanne Savelon (5.0) 5.0 2.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 3.0 3.0 1.0 26.0 21.0
3rd IND 210282 Ramya Saravanan (13.0 DSQ) 3.0 5.0 4.0 3.0 5.0 8.0 4.0 2.0 5.0 52.0 39.0
4th HKG 191713 Stephanie Norton 6.0 6.0 4.0 3.0 5.0 3.0 5.0 (9.0) 5.0 4.0 50.0 41.0
5th IND 210440 Harshita Tomar 4.0 2.0 (9.0) 7.0 7.0 8.0 1.0 1.0 6.0 7.0 52.0 43.0
6th HKG 211717 Nancy Highfield 8.0 (11.0) 3.0 5.0 4.0 4.0 7.0 6.0 4.0 3.0 55.0 44.0
7th KOR 211521 Kim Jia 7.0 1.0 6.0 (8.0) 6.0 6.0 6.0 2.0 7.0 6.0 55.0 47.0
8th KOR 214439 Da Jeong Kim 3.0 (13.0 RET) 10.0 9.0 8.0 9.0 4.0 8.0 8.0 9.0 81.0 68.0
9th KAZ 219690 Karina Jangazova (9.0) 8.0 8.0 6.0 9.0 7.0 9.0 7.0 9.0 8.0 80.0 71.0
10th KOR 201497 Jung Hyewon 1.0 4.0 11.0 10.0 10.0 (13.0 UFD) 10.0 10.0 10.0 11.0 90.0 77.0
11th KAZ 219617 Yana Belozerova 10.0 9.0 7.0 (12.0) 11.0 10.0 12.0 12.0 11.0 10.0 104.0 92.0
12th IND159205 Jayalakshmi Sundaravadivel 11.0 10.0 (12.0) 11.0 12.0 11.0 11.0 11.0 12.0 12.0 113.0 101.0

Laser STD Class

Sailed: 10, Discards: 1, To count: 9, Entries: 20, Scoring system: Appendix A
Rank SailNo HelmName CrewName R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 Total Nett
1st SGP 218246 Ryan Lo Jun Han 5.0 (6.0) 3.0 1.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 23.0 17.0
2nd THA 217427 Keerati Bualong 11.0 2.0 5.0 2.0 9.0 1.0 6.0 6.0 (13.0) 9.0 64.0 51.0
3rd IND 208191 Vishnu Saravanan 3.0 11.0 2.0 4.0 3.0 10.0 3.0 4.0 (12.0) 11.0 63.0 51.0
4th CHN 218525 Jiannan Wu 2.0 3.0 (12.0) 11.0 12.0 3.0 8.0 2.0 4.0 10.0 67.0 55.0
5th HKG 171979 Nick Bezy 10.0 (14.0) 9.0 3.0 7.0 4.0 12.0 5.0 3.0 2.0 69.0 55.0
6th THA 213137 Arthit Mikhail Romanyk 9.0 7.0 1.0 9.0 (10.0) 6.0 5.0 7.0 8.0 7.0 69.0 59.0
7th THA 217449 Chusit Punjamala 8.0 (13.0) 7.0 8.0 6.0 12.0 1.0 11.0 7.0 3.0 76.0 63.0
8th NED 215917 Stijn Jacobus Carolus 7.0 10.0 8.0 6.0 (11.0) 9.0 7.0 8.0 11.0 5.0 82.0 71.0
9th CHN 211513 Zhao Ning 17.0 16.0 4.0 (21.0 RET) 2.0 5.0 15.0 9.0 2.0 4.0 95.0 74.0
10th IND 203055 Upamanyu Dutta 6.0 5.0 13.0 10.0 8.0 7.0 (18.0) 3.0 10.0 14.0 94.0 76.0
11th TPE 197743 Gerald William (16.0) 12.0 6.0 7.0 4.0 13.0 14.0 10.0 6.0 6.0 94.0 78.0
12th IND 212161 Mohit Saini (14.0) 9.0 14.0 5.0 5.0 8.0 10.0 13.0 5.0 12.0 95.0 81.0
13th BRN 212489 Abdulla Janahi 15.0 1.0 10.0 12.0 13.0 14.0 4.0 12.0 (21.0 UFD) 13.0 115.0 94.0
14th IND 212160 Gitesh 13.0 19.0 11.0 (21.0 DSQ) 14.0 11.0 11.0 14.0 9.0 8.0 131.0 110.0
15th BRN 211855 Dawood Abdulla Sadeq 1.0 8.0 15.0 17.0 16.0 17.0 17.0 (19.0) 17.0 17.0 144.0 125.0
16th KAZ 216733 Ruslan Jangazov 4.0 4.0 (21.0 UFD) 16.0 19.0 20.0 13.0 16.0 19.0 20.0 152.0 131.0
17th IND 208917 RamMilan Yadav 12.0 17.0 19.0 18.0 (20.0) 19.0 9.0 15.0 16.0 18.0 163.0 143.0
18th TPE 206217 Hsiu Chuan Chiang 18.0 15.0 17.0 13.0 15.0 16.0 (21.0 UFD) 21.0 DSQ 14.0 16.0 166.0 145.0
19th KAZ 213003 Chshankin Vladimir (19.0) 18.0 16.0 15.0 17.0 15.0 16.0 17.0 18.0 15.0 166.0 147.0
20th IRN 212845 Ahmad Ahmadi (20.0) 20.0 18.0 14.0 18.0 18.0 19.0 18.0 15.0 19.0 179.0 159.0

RS:X Men Class

Sailed: 12, Discards: 1, To count: 11, Entries: 13, Scoring system: Appendix A
Rank SailNo HelmName CrewName R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 Total Nett
1st THA6 Natthapong Phonoppharat 1.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 (4.0) 1.0 1.0 18.0 14.0
2nd PHI 420 Yancy Kaibigan 6.0 1.0 (8.0) 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 5.0 5.0 2.0 2.0 39.0 31.0
3rd PHI 4 Geylord Coveta 5.0 4.0 1.0 9.0 5.0 9.0 4.0 9.0 2.0 1.0 7.0 (14.0 DSQ) 70.0 56.0
4th THA 20 Navin Singsart 2.0 2.0 3.0 8.0 9.0 7.0 6.0 3.0 4.0 (10.0) 8.0 7.0 69.0 59.0
5th PHI19 Renz Angelo Amboy 9.0 6.0 5.0 5.0 (14.0 DNF) 6.0 7.0 4.0 9.0 2.0 4.0 3.0 74.0 60.0
6th IND 7 Jerome Kumar Savarimuthu (11.0) 9.0 6.0 4.0 4.0 3.0 3.0 5.0 7.0 6.0 9.0 8.0 75.0 64.0
7th IND 12 Ebad Ali 3.0 7.0 4.0 10.0 6.0 8.0 5.0 10.0 (11.0) 3.0 5.0 5.0 77.0 66.0
8th TPE 5 Chih Kai Hsu 4.0 11.0 9.0 3.0 3.0 5.0 12.0 8.0 12.0 (13.0) 3.0 4.0 87.0 74.0
9th OMA 6 Abdulmajeed Alhadrami (12.0) 10.0 10.0 7.0 10.0 4.0 9.0 6.0 10.0 9.0 6.0 6.0 99.0 87.0
10th MAS 5 Muhammad Izzuddin Adul Rani 7.0 5.0 7.0 (12.0) 12.0 12.0 10.0 7.0 3.0 8.0 12.0 10.0 105.0 93.0
11th MAS11 Ahmad Danish Abdul 10.0 8.0 12.0 6.0 7.0 10.0 13.0 12.0 6.0 7.0 10.0 (14.0 DNC) 115.0 101.0
12th OMA 1 Faisal Al-Qutaiti 8.0 12.0 (13.0) 11.0 8.0 11.0 8.0 11.0 8.0 12.0 11.0 9.0 122.0 109.0
13th OMA 4 Almukhtar Al-Mujaini 13.0 13.0 11.0 13.0 11.0 13.0 11.0 13.0 13.0 11.0 13.0 (14.0 NSC) 149.0 135.0

RS:X Women Class

Sailed: 12, Discards: 1, To count: 11, Entries: 3, Scoring system: Appendix A
Rank SailNo HelmName CrewName R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 Total Nett
1st SGP 1 Amanda Ng Ling Kai (3.0) 2.0 2.0 2.0 1.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 18.0 15.0
2nd PHI16 Charizanne Napa 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 2.0 1.0 2.0 (3.0) 2.0 3.0 2.0 2.0 21.0 18.0
3rd IND 15 Ishwariya Ganesh 2.0 3.0 3.0 (4.0 DNF) 4.0 NSC 3.0 3.0 2.0 3.0 2.0 4.0 DNF 4.0 DNF 37.0 33.0