China utilise mathematical advantage at ISAF World Cup to seal Olympic finn berth

Chinese sailors lead several classes ahead of the medal races ©ISAF

China secured a Rio 2016 berth in the men’s finn class after utilising their mathematical advantage on the penultimate day of competition at the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) World Cup in Qingdao.

Heading into the event in front of their home fans the Chinese sailors were huge favourites to secure the Olympic spot on offer for Asian sailors as they boasted nine boats in the fleet, with Iran’s Ahmad Ahmadi providing their only competition.

The home advantage and scale of his opposition proved too much for Ahmadi to overcome as he lies in eighth position ahead of the medal race with no prospect of overtaking the leader Luwen Shen, thus guaranteeing China the quota place.

Shen has a five point lead in the class over Lei Gong and he will hope to maintain that advantage and top the podium for the Rio 2016 spot following Sunday’s final race.

Home favourites also have control of the RS:X events with Chunzhuang Liu boasting a six point lead over his team-mate Bing Ye after winning the final pair of races before the medal race, while after two third place finishes and a discarded 20th Jiahaui Wui holds a six-point advantage over her compatriot Peina Chen.

While most of the sailors will be preparing for their final races of the week, the men’s 49er athletes have already completed their regatta with South Korea’s Bonjin Chae and Dongwook Kim taking gold and the Rio place by a single point after close competition across 11 races with their compatriots Sungwok Kim and Hoyeob Yang.

There are European leaders of the men’s 470 class as Austria David Bargehr and Lukas Mähr built upon a sequence of solid races by securing first and second place finishes on Saturday to propel them into the lead on 28 points.

The duo conceded they have taken a while to adjust to the conditions in Qingdao, but are hopeful off seeing off the challenge of China’s Hao Lan and Chao Wang, who lie three points behind and have secured the Asian Rio 2016 berth.

Austria's David Bargehr and Lukas Mähr lead the men's 470 event ©ISAF

"Today was really tough and really challenging and there were light winds,” said Bargehr.

"We've never sailed in Qingdao before, it's actually our first time so every day is a little bit new for us.

"We have had to find out how the wind works and this current, it's amazing.

“At the beginning we made some mistakes because we didn't know how to sail here, we feel more comfortable now and I think you'll see this in the results."

The women’s 470 event saw Japan’s Ai Kondo Yoshida and Miho Yoshioka maintain their lead but China’s Xiaoli and Lizhu Huang closed to within two points after recording two races wins.

Meanwhile, Singapore’s Justin Liu and Denise Lim look assured of victory in the Nacra 17 class as they hold a 14 point lead ahead of the final race, while in the men’s laser Britain’s Lorenzo Chiavarini has a 17 point advantage over Croatia’s Tonci Stipanovic at the top of the standings.

There could be more success for the Chinese crowd to celebrate tomorrow as Dongshuang Zhang leads the women’s laser radial class by five points from Canada’s Isabella Bertold.