Liu and Lim continue domination at ISAF World Cup as Rio 2016 dream draws closer

Singapore's Justin Liu and Denise Lim remain on course to seal a Rio 2016 berth ©ISAF

Singapore’s Justin Liu and Denise Lim look poised to secure Rio 2016 Olympic qualification as they continued to dominate the Nacra 17 class at the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) World Cup in Qingdao, China, today.

The duo had performed superbly in the opening six races of the regatta and continued that form on Friday as they earned another two wins and one third place finish to stretch their lead over Hong Kong’s Tat Choi Fung and Yu Ting Chan to ten points.

Liu and Lim have now claimed seven wins from nine races which has seen them take complete control of the class and only a disastrous sequence of results in the final two days will prevent them from topping the podium and sealing the Asian Olympic berth, with the best sailors from the continent in each class sealing their place in Brazil.

Yesterday’s star sailor Lorenzo Chiavarini of Britain had a trickier day on the water as he finished 13th in both of his laser races which allowed France’s Jean Baptiste Bernaz to close to within three points after a pair of fourth places.

“I came here to win, I still have two days to do it in this fleet,” Bernaz said afterwards.

“It's a good level with sailors from Croatia, Cyprus, Australia, Virgin Islands and Canada.

“There are many good sailors who know how to play these winds and I'm pretty happy to be second at the moment."

The women’s laser radial event looks to be a battle between three athletes with Japan’s Manami Doi still leading the way but she sits just a point clear of Dongshuang Zhang, after the Chinese competitor earned a win and a sixth place finish.

Most of the classes remain in the balance ahead of the final two days ©ISAF

Canada’s Isabella Bertold finished as the runner-up in the opening race and followed that result with a ninth place to lie a further point adrift.

Two other classes are extremely close as China’s Lei Gong leads his compatriot Luwen Shen by eight points after they recorded a win apiece in the finn class, while in the men’s 49er, South Korea’s Kim Sungwok and Yang Hoyeob are tied with their team-mates Bongjim Chae and Kim Dongwook after four wins apiece from eight races.

South Korea’s Chang Ju Kim and Ji-Hoon Kim are currently leading the race for Asian Olympic qualification in the men’s 470 class having picked up a win and a discarded 27th place finish to sit four points clear of their rivals Navee Thamsoontorn and Nut Butmarasri of Thailand.

However, the two teams are located in the middle of the chasing pack for the overall win, with Spain’s Onan Barreiros and Juan Curbelo Cabrera leading the standings after a win and a third place finish gave them a total of 15 points from six races.

The women’s event is led by Japan’s Ai Kondo Yoshida and Miho Yoshioka as they have ten points, with China’s Xiaoli Wang and Lizhu Huang sitting second on 15.

Meanwhile, the men’s RS:X class sees China’s Bing Ye and Tao Li tied for the lead on 37 points, while four wins from her opening nine races sees their compatriot Jiahui Wu lead the women’s event on 17 points ahead of her team-mate Peina Chen, who has 23 points.