SAILORS RULE WAVES
Varsha, Sweta, Harshita, Ashok, Ganapathy get medals Varsha Gautham and Sweta Shervegar were not chosen by the federation to represent India and only after a court battle did they make the Asian Games team.
Jakarta, Aug. 31: India recorded its best showing in sailing at Asian Games as Varsha Gautham and Sweta Shervegar claimed silver in 49er FX event while two men combined to overcome disqualification in their previous race to grab a bronze on Friday.
Varsha and Sweta were not chosen by the federation to represent India and only after a court battle did they reach the Indonesian capital. At the helm of her 49erFX, 20-year-old Varsha and her crew partner Sweta, completed the 15-race event with 40 net points to finish second behind winners from Singapore, who had just 14 net points.
Sailors are given points after each race, and the pair, which gets the least points, is declared the winner.
“These were stressful three months. But everything has paid off. There were a lot of up and down. A lot happened. At least 10 times I thought, it’s not worth it, I can’t handle it but somehow I continued,” Varsha said.
“And there was a realistic chance of losing today, but we stayed clam,” Varsha said, adding that they needed donations and crowd funding to pursue their passion.
Thakkar and Ganapathy clinched a bronze medal in 49er event after finishing third with 43 net points, missing the silver by just half a point.
The 16-year-old Harshita was already assured of a bronze in the Open Laser 4.7 competition after totalling 62 points after 12 races. “It has been a great learning experience,” Harshita, a former swimmer, said after winning the medal. — PTI