Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 6) – Filipino windsurfers cling on to their aspirations of making it to the Tokyo Olympics after ten races of the 2021 Mussanah Open Championship in Oman, the Olympic qualifying event for Asia.
As of Tuesday, Jewel Napa and Yancy Kaibigan are currently ranked second in their respective RS:X gender classes as they fight for the lone Olympic slot at stakein each division.
After leading the three-sailor field in the women’s side in the first eight races, Napa relinquished the lead to Singapore’s Amanda Ng Ling Kai in the next two races held Tuesday. The 19-year-old Filipina now holds a total of 14 points, while the Singaporean snatched the lead with 13 points.
Napa won the first four and the sixth RS:X Women Class races while landing runner-up finishes in the fifth, seventh, and ninth races. She finished third in the eighth and tenth races, which are crucial heats in her tussle with the Singaporean.
Philippine windsurfing team head coach Raul Lazo told CNN Philippines they are doing their best to help Napa shrug off the pressure in the competition. He added the Olympic qualifiers is Napa’s biggest tournament in her young career, after her silver medal feat in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.
“She has not been in a situation where she’s leading the race so there’s a lot of pressure in her now. We told her to relax and be focused in her races to achieve her goal,” said Lazo. “There’s no question in her skills and preparations in this tournament but the mental toughness now prevails, especially it is her first time to be in the pole position.”
Ling Kai topped the last four races, as she grabbed the slim lead over Napa on Tuesday. Indonesia’s Ishwariya Ganesh is at far third place with 25 points.
In the men’s side, Thailand’s Natthapong Phonoppharat continues to widen his lead with 12 points while Kaibigan is at distant second with 27 points. The Thai ruled seven out of the 10 RS:X Men Class races and held on the top spot since the first heat, despite only placing fourth in the tenth race on Tuesday.
Lazo said the Thai windsurfer really showed he wants to get the Olympic slot, as a revenge to his loss against Kaibigan in the 2019 SEA Games. Kaibigan took home the gold at that time while Phonoppharat settled for silver.
“The Thai athlete is really well-conditioned in this tournament. Our athletes are well-prepared but it looked like the Thais made a strategy to get back at us,” said Lazo.
Two-time world champion Geylord Coveta is at far third with 40 points, followed by Thailand’s Navin Singsart (44 points) and Indonesia’s Jerome Kumar Savarimuthu (47 points). Renz Angelo Amboy, the other Filipino windsurfer in the Olympic qualifiers, is ranked sixth with 53 points.
“The wind conditions in Oman are erratic. Our athletes are used to compete in consistently strong winds,” Lazo assessed. “I told them to just protect their position and try to inch higher as much as they can.”
Reneric Moreno and German Paz are the coaches guiding the four Filipino windsurfers in Oman. They are looking to follow the feat of Richard Paz, who competed in the 1988 and 1992 Olympic windsurfing competitions.
LOOK: After ten races, 🇵🇭 windsurfers Yancy Kaibigan and Jewel Napa are ranked second in the Asian Olympic qualifiers at Oman.
Three more races are scheduled in the tournament to fight for the one Olympic slot allotted per division. @cnnphilippines @sportsdeskph pic.twitter.com/iwkLDoZoWC
— David Tristan Yumol (@dtdyumol) April 6, 2021
