KC Ganapathy, Varun Thakkar register best-ever sailing finish for India at Olympics with 7th place in Men's 49er race 6

The Indian sailing pair of KC Ganapathy and Varun Thakker, participating in the men's skiff 49er sailing event finished the sixth race at seventh position.

The Indian duo did not enjoy a favorable start. They were placed 18th after the first race. At the end of the second race, they were 17th. When the third race ended, they had slipped to 19th. Their position improved by one spot as at the end of the fourth race saw the pair move up to the 18th place. In the fifth race, the pair finished at 16th.

But KC Ganapathy and Varun Thakker showed incredible determination to fight back hard and ended the sixth race inside the top-ten.

The Indian team had initially finished the final race in the ninth spot. However, two teams were disqualified in the process. The Swiss and Portuguese teams, who had initially finished Race 6 in the sixth and seventh position respectively, were given the 'U Flag'.

The 'U Flag' disqualification was given to them being over the start line in the minute before the starting signal was sounded. It meant that the Irish team who had originally finished eighth were moved up to 6th and India rose to 7th.

The Indian duo had an impressive race 6 and were fourth at one point in the race (after the second mark). However, they failed to hold on to their spot and finally landed in the 7th place at the end of race 6.

Indian sailors @VarunThakkar100 and KC Ganapathy finish 49er Men Race 06 at the 7th spot.#Cheer4India#Tokyo2020

— airworldservice (@airworldservice) July 29, 2021

Six more races are to come in the in the men's skiff 49er sailing event.

In other sailing events, Vishnu Saravanan finished 23rd overall in the laser standard. Nethra Kumanan, participating in the radial category, was 31st overall. Vishnu Saravanan was ranked 23rd after the 8th race. Nethra Kumanan had to make do with a 20th place finish after her 8th race. Both Vishnu Saravanan and Nethra Kumanan have two races on their hands to improve their positions on the leaderboard.

Check out the Tokyo Olympics 2021 Medal Tally here.

Tokyo Olympics 2020:Nethra Kumanan finished Laser Radial Race 08 at 20th spotRace 09 and 10 are scheduled for 30 July.#Cheer4India #Tokyo2020(File Pic) pic.twitter.com/OU3VGhD5Rm

— DD India (@DDIndialive) July 29, 2021

Tokyo Olympics 2021, is the first occasion when four Indian sailors qualified for the Summer Games. It is also the first time that India is competing in three sailing events in the Olympics.

The four sailors had qualified for the showpiece event after the Asian qualifier in Oman in April 2021. Vishnu Saravanan, Nethra Kumanan and KC Ganapathy belong to Tamil Nadu Sailing Association. Varun Thakker comes from the Indian Army.