Doha: French pair of Camille Lecointre and Sophie De Turckheim bounced back to take the overall lead in the women’s section of the 47th World Military Sailing Championship (470 Class) here yesterday.
In the men’s section, overnight leaders Wagner Jan-Jaspe and Baldwein Dustin from Germany held on to their place at the top of the summit with eight nett points.
Ukraine duo of Broys Shvets and Pavlo Matsyev continued to be in the second spot, with eight points separating them from the leaders.
On a day which saw strong winds, sailors of the hosts team Waleed Al Sharshani and Jassim Al Sulaiti made the best use of the windy conditions to move to the fourth spot with 35 nett points, the same as the Indian pair of Pushparajan Muttu and Narendra Singh Rajput.
Qatar’s Sharshani was happy with yesterday’s performance.
“It was a great day for us. We love the strong winds and we were sure to take advantage of the home conditions,” he said.
The hosts team is now banking to make further inroads on the top of the table in today’s three races, which will bring the down the curtains on the championship.
Qatari coach Gasper Strahovnik was also upbeat about his wards performance: “It was a good day for my sailors. Now they are back into the medal contention and they have to continue their good work.”
“In the beginning, there was pressure on us, which is normal as we are the home team. Waleed and Jassim were third in the first race and thereafter, they kept getting better and won a second place in the next race. They are looking confident and sailing just as they are used to,” added Strahovnik.
Poland’s Marcin Czajkowski and Piotr Przybylski are in third place with 33 nett points.
Meanwhile, the women’s class is poised to witness a sharp battle for the top honours on the final day today with only two points separating the French leaders from Kiriluyk and Dmitrieva.
Ukraine’s Anna Kyselova and Anastasiya Krasko are at the third spot with 28 nett points and look unlikely to threaten the leading pairs.
“We are only two points ahead of the Russian team. We were really good today and had more speed,” Lecointre competitor at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
“I’m racing with Sophie for the first time and we’re indeed having a lot of fun.” THE PENINSULA
