HANGZHOU: National sailor Nur Shazrin Mohamad Latif is on the right track to win her first gold medal at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games as she continued to lead the way in the ILCA 6 women’s event at the Ningbo Xiangshan Sailing Centre, some 170 kilometres from here.
Although she only finished the eighth and ninth races in fifth and fourth places respectively today, she managed to hold on to first place overall with a nine-point advantage and three laps to go.
The 25-year-old, who won bronze at the 2018 edition in Jakarta-Palembang, has collected 18 penalty points to stay ahead of Singapore’s Victoria Jing Hua Chan (27 penalty pts) and Hong Kong’s Stephanie Norton (32 pts).
“Today was a bit unlucky (for me) but I still managed to maintain the first position. There are still two more races tomorrow and the medal race on Wednesday, I hope my boat speed will be faster tomorrow.
“It’s quite challenging here, shifts come with wind pressure and the wave condition is like a washing machine, the boat speed is slightly affected when the wind drops. But, thankfully, I recovered well in every race,” she said.
Meanwhile, Asnawi Iqbal Adam is also on course for the podium in the men’s ILCA 4 event after finishing the ninth and 10th races in second place, to be placed third overall with just one race to go.
In tomorrow’s 11th round, Asnawi (35 points), who leads Mohamed Alzaabi by five points, needs to finish ahead of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) sailor to confirm the bronze medal.
Thailand’s Weka Bhanubandh (11 points) leads the race, followed by Singapore’s Isaac Goh (20 pts). -Bernama