Asians continue to build on Busan Youth results
by ISAF and Sail-World on 19 Jul 2006
The Korean Boys 420 crew leads Ireland in the 2006 Volvo Youth Worlds in Weymouth. onEdition
http://www.onEdition.com
One year on from the Championship in Busan, Korea, the Asian challenge continues to go from strength to strength at the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship.
Asian nations feature amongst the top ten in several of the fleets, with medals firmly on the mind of some of the continent's brightest sailing stars.
Singapore, Myanmar, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, India, Pakistan and Chinese Taipei make up the Asian challenge in Weymouth, Great Britain, and look to be building on the strong performances in Busan last year.
In Busan, Singapore won Asia’s first ever gold medal in the dinghy events with, Wee Chin TEO and Terence KOH (SIN) taking the Boys’ 420 title ahead of Japan. Following on from his Youth Worlds success TEO has moved to the Hobie 16 and is now a regular rival to Melcolm HUANG and Pei Quan CHUNG, Singapore's multihull team in Weymouth. HUANG and CHUNG lie second on the leaderboard with two bullets to their name after six races.
Although they have yet to match the consistency of the leading British Hobie team, the duo have shown they have the speed necessary to win races and will be aiming to close the gap on the top spot.
HUANG puts their impressive showing so far down to the support they have, 'Sailing is one of the core sports in Singapore, so I guess we are highly looked at.' Speaking of their aim for the week the pair are clear, responding with a big grim: 'To win a medal', with HUANG adding, 'the colour of the medal is just a bonus.'
The other major medal hopes for Singapore are in the Laser Radial and the Girls’ 420 fleet. In the Radial, recently crowned Laser 4.7 World Champion Victoria CHAN (SIN) lies sixth overall, nine points off the medals. A solid score in race six would see her discard an earlier 21 and massively boost her chances.
Sarah TAN and Tze TING (SIN) will be looking towards the second discard (after race nine) after a great opening was followed by calamity on the second day in the Girls’ 420 fleet. A 3,2,2 start saw them top the leaderboard at the end of day one, but they went OCS twice on Saturday leaving them languishing down in eleventh place. A ninth place today lifted them back up to seventh overall.
Another of the Girls’ 420 crews offer Asia a great chance of a medal in the shape of Myanmar’s Su Sandar WAI and Zin April AUNG.
They illustrate what great strides can be made in just a year, after finishing 17th out of the 21 crew in Busan last year. On Saturday they posted their first bullet of the Championship to move them up to third place overall. WAI explains that in Busan last year she lacked experience racing in big fleets and in the 420, having only started in the class three months before. Since then an impressive performance at the South East Asian Games showed there was plenty of potential in the pairing, something that is being confirmed this week.
Along with Singapore, Hong Kong are Asia’s other Youth Worlds gold medallist, and their challenge is highlighted by their windsurfers. Hei Man CHAN lies fifth overall in the Girls’ RS:X standings, although she has her work cut out to catch the leading Italian, Polish and Israeli trio.
Korea look set to put in a strong challenge in the Laser, with Jeemin HA lying in seventh place overall and looking set to benefit when the discard come in after a score of 28 in race four. Japan are also performing strongly again in the 420 fleets, although Shibuki IITSUKA and Shingen FURUYA (JPN) suffered a setback with a DNF today.
Whilst some of the other Asian nations may not be mixing in the medal equations, nevertheless, the Youth Worlds provides the perfect venue for them to showcase and develop their talents. Thailand’s Ek BOONSAWAD has already shown considerably improvement in the Boys’ RS:X fleet, and on Sunday posted his first top ten finish of the Championship.
India’s Ajay RAU has also managed to post some encouraging scores, including a 34 and 35 in the 44 strong Laser fleet, whilst Pakistan’s Ujala MIR MASOOD, in only her nation’s second ever Youth World appearance, made a great start in the Laser Radial with a 34 in the 42 strong fleet.
For MIR MASOOD, in Weymouth on the ISAF Athlete Participation Programme, the Youth Worlds is a great learning tool, as she explained today, 'You learn a lot more than at home. You learn how the best sailors do it.' For her the coaching, the new faces and friends make the Youth Worlds an 'amazing' experience. And for a young sailor developing their abilities the chance to work with renowned coach Jim SALTONSTALL is simply, 'The best part of this Championship'.
Whilst these performances might not carry with them the prestige or the glory of some of the top placing finishes, they reflect another equally important part of the Championship. Not just are the Youth Worlds a showcase for the world’s top young sailing talent, they are also a massive incentive for training and youth development right around the sailing world.
The rise and rise of the Asian nations at the Youth Worlds is just the latest result of this, and also a warning shot to the traditional sailing powers that come Beijing, and the return to Weymouth in 2012, there will be plenty of new faces to look out for. As Singapore Team Leader Mark ROBINSON puts it, 'We’ve had success now with the youth sailors. The trick now is to translate it into the Olympic Classes.'
After five days of competition, Australia lead the Volvo Trophy awarded to the top country at the Volvo Youth Worlds. New Zealand lie in 13th, one place ahead of USA, with GBR in third. Singapore is 10th on the Team Trophy table.
Volvo Trophy after five days of racing
| Rank |
MNA |
R1 |
R2 |
R3 |
R4 |
R5 |
Total |
| 1 |
AUS |
36.00 |
23.00 |
24.00 |
19.00 |
29.00 |
131.00 |
| 2 |
ITA |
26.00 |
21.00 |
27.00 |
26.00 |
28.00 |
128.00 |
| 3 |
GBR |
25.00 |
18.00 |
19.00 |
27.00 |
32.00 |
121.00 |
| 4 |
ISR |
32.00 |
24.00 |
22.00 |
21.00 |
21.00 |
120.00 |
| 5 |
POL |
24.00 |
27.00 |
17.00 |
18.00 |
12.00 |
98.00 |
| 6 |
FRA |
30.00 |
12.00 |
13.00 |
18.00 |
23.00 |
96.00 |
| 7 |
ESP |
11.00 |
14.00 |
23.00 |
21.00 |
17.00 |
86.00 |
| 8 |
GER |
13.00 |
12.00 |
28.00 |
14.00 |
17.00 |
84.00 |
| 9 |
NED |
13.00 |
19.00 |
11.00 |
21.00 |
19.00 |
83.00 |
| 10 |
SIN |
20.00 |
19.00 |
24.00 |
10.00 |
10.00 |
83.00 |
| 11 |
DEN |
12.00 |
13.00 |
9.00 |
10.00 |
19.00 |
63.00 |
| 12 |
BRA |
5.00 |
12.00 |
12.00 |
16.00 |
17.00 |
62.00 |
| 13 |
NZL |
10.00 |
15.00 |
20.00 |
1.00 |
11.00 |
57.00 |
| 14 |
USA |
10.00 |
8.00 |
7.00 |
24.00 |
7.00 |
56.00 |
| 15 |
ARG |
15.00 |
19.00 |
6.00 |
9.00 |
3.00 |
52.00 |
| 16 |
CAN |
0.00 |
9.00 |
17.00 |
11.00 |
10.00 |
47.00 |
| 17 |
SWE |
10.00 |
19.00 |
8.00 |
0.00 |
10.00 |
47.00 |
| 18 |
CRO |
7.00 |
10.00 |
4.00 |
10.00 |
6.00 |
37.00 |
| 19 |
FIN |
0.00 |
6.00 |
12.00 |
5.00 |
10.00 |
33.00 |
| 20 |
IRL |
8.00 |
14.00 |
0.00 |
6.00 |
5.00 |
33.00 |
| 21 |
KOR |
9.00 |
1.00 |
4.00 |
15.00 |
4.00 |
33.00 |
| 22 |
BEL |
6.00 |
3.00 |
11.00 |
9.00 |
4.00 |
33.00 |
| 23 |
HKG |
4.00 |
7.00 |
7.00 |
6.00 |
7.00 |
31.00 |
| 24 |
SUI |
6.00 |
13.00 |
0.00 |
3.00 |
6.00 |
28.00 |
| 25 |
POR |
8.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
9.00 |
10.00 |
27.00 |
| 26 |
JPN |
0.00 |
4.00 |
4.00 |
11.00 |
7.00 |
26.00 |
| 27 |
CYP |
0.00 |
7.00 |
8.00 |
1.00 |
7.00 |
23.00 |
| 28 |
GRE |
8.00 |
4.00 |
0.00 |
7.00 |
4.00 |
23.00 |
| 29 |
GUA |
8.00 |
3.00 |
7.00 |
5.00 |
0.00 |
23.00 |
| 30 |
PUR |
3.00 |
9.00 |
7.00 |
0.00 |
2.00 |
21.00 |
If you want to link to this article then please use this URL: www.sail-world.com/25854