Sailors told to keep chin up and stay afloat

PETALING JAYA: It has been a baptism of fire for Malaysia’s 470 duo Nuraisyah Jamil and

Juni Karimah Nur

Jamali.

The duo are currently

20th in the overall standings with 130 points and is unlikely that they would qualify for the medal contention race.

Noraisyah, 24, and Juni, 19, were supposed to complete their competition yesterday but race nine and 10 were postponed due to light wind conditions.

Whatever the outcome, coach Sahir A. Rahim has told them to savour the moment and to learn from their outing at the Enoshima Yacht Harbour.

“You’ve to note that they are making their debut. For me, I see their performance in a positive manner because they can learn from this experience and do better at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games and push for a spot in the 2024 Paris Olympics,” he said.

“We have identified some weaknesses and we will rectify them when we get home.

“Some of the weaknesses that I can share is their push from the start line and also their race management. Plus, they really need some big wave exposure during out wind and downwind. These things can be improved with more training.

“But to get these waves, we need to participate in more overseas competitions.

“If they get to compete in conditions where the waves are over two metres, it would only make them become better.”

Only the top 10 will go through and the Malaysians are 68 points behind 10th placed Luisa Wanseranastasiya Winkel from Germany.

Britain’s Olympic champion Hannah Mills and partner Eilidh Mcintyre currently top the standings with 18 points while Poland’s Agnieszka Skrzypulec-jolanta Ogar and France’s Camile Lecointrealoise Retornaz are second and third with 19 and 28 points respectively.