Gamagori: India sailor Nethra Kumanan won the bronze medal in the women’s dinghy sailing event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026, ending her 12-year wait for an Asian Games podium finish after placing seventh, fifth and fourth in her previous three appearances.
Nethra finished with 14 net points after the two-race final series at the Kaiyoh Yacht Harbor. Thailand’s Sophia Montgomery won the gold medal with five points, while Singapore’s Jania Ang secured silver with 13 points.
The bronze is India’s third sailing medal at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games, following the men’s skiff silver won by Manu Francis and Prince Kurisinkal Noble and the women’s skiff bronze claimed by Harshita Tomar and Shital Verma.
Nethra Kumanan Secures Bronze After Final-Race Win
Nethra entered the final series with seven recalculated points from the qualification rounds held earlier in the week.
She finished sixth in Final 1, adding six points to her tally, before producing a strong performance in Final 2 by winning the race and adding just one point. The result lifted her to third place overall.
Nethra finished level on 14 net points with Hong Kong’s Stephanie Norton, with both sailors recording seven points from the qualification series and seven from the finals. Nethra secured the bronze on the tie-break after holding the better head-to-head record across the series.
Nethra Made Olympic History for India
Nethra made history in 2021 by becoming the first Indian woman sailor to qualify for the Olympics. She secured her Tokyo 2020 berth through the Mussanah Open Championship in Oman.
She later qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics, becoming a two-time Olympian.
Vishnu Saravanan Finishes Fourth in Men’s Dinghy
India’s Vishnu Saravanan, also a two-time Olympian, finished fourth in the men’s dinghy event with 21 net points.
Republic of Korea’s Ha Jee-min won the gold medal with nine net points, while Malaysia’s Khairulnizam Mohd Afendy claimed the bronze with 14 net points.
Saravanan had won a bronze medal at the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou.
India’s Canoe Slalom Campaign Ends Without Medal
India’s canoe slalom campaign ended without a medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
Five Indian athletes competed across five medal events — men’s kayak singles, men’s kayak cross, women’s canoe singles, women’s kayak singles and women’s kayak cross.
India’s best result came in the men’s kayak singles, where Pradhyumna Singh Rathod finished sixth among 10 finalists with a score of 125.21, including a six-second time penalty.