Asian Games: Childhood friends Manu Francis, Noble Kurisinkal bring 1st sailing silver

For Manu Francis and Prince Noble Kurisinkal, the journey in the sport of sailing didn't start with glitz and glamour. Rather, it started on Cherai beach in Kochi with a makeshift boat. Now, both men have battled the waves in Nagoya to secure a silver medal in the men's skiff race, opening India's account in the sport.

Amidst their tremendous achievement, the one constant that has stood the test of time is their bond and friendship. Manu and Prince are friends and relatives and they took the step into sailing together. Their journey began when they were in Class 7. P Madhu, a coach at the National Sailing School, noticed their ability and encouraged the two youngsters to take up the sport seriously. They spent the next two years training at the National Sailing School in Bhopal before returning home.

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Back in Kerala, the pair continued to develop their skills under the guidance of retired Colonel Navneet Mittal and Suresh Pillai at the Muziris Yachting Club. Their commitment to sailing did not fade after school either. Both eventually joined the Indian Army after completing their Plus Two education while continuing to pursue the sport.

Since 2020, the duo have been coached by Sandeep Jain and have stepped up their preparations at the Army Yachting Node in Mumbai, where they have been training intensively for major international competitions.

Their competitive journey dates back to the Silver Jubilee National Laser Regatta in 2010. Since then, they have progressed to the international stage and established themselves as a consistent pair in the skiff category.

The two sailors claimed bronze at the Asian Sailing Championships in Abu Dhabi in 2022 before repeating that feat in Thailand a year later.

This was their Asian Games debut and both men decided to put sailing back on the map for India.

HOW MANU AND NOBLE BAGGED SILVER

Manu and Noble remained consistent throughout the course of the nine races to secure the silver medal for India at the Asian Games on Thursday.

They finished the nine-race competition with 23 points. The duo were beaten to gold by China’s Wen Zaiding and Liu Tian, who accumulated 16 points.

The scoring system in sailing rewards athletes based on their finishing position in each race, with the winner receiving one point. The objective is to finish with the lowest aggregate score after all the races.

Francis and Noble produced their best result by winning the third race, while they also finished runners-up in races 1, 5 and 9. China proved more consistent at the top end of the standings, winning four races to claim the gold medal.

Heading into Thursday, Manu and Noble had their backs against the wall. A poor performance in race 8, where they finished last, meant that they were out of medal contention.

They needed a big result in the final race and they did just that and finished second, pushing them up the final standings and just behind the leaders China in the end.