Harshita Tomar and Shital Verma crossed the finish area at Kaiyoh Yacht Harbor thinking they had missed the podium. The Indian pair were fourth in the women’s skiff at the in Aichi on Thursday. By the time the result sheet was settled, they had a bronze medal.
Notably, China’s Xiaoyu Hu and Yuyue Sun, who had finished third on the water, were disqualified, and India moved up. It is an unusual way to reach a podium, but the outcome is clear. Japan took gold. Hong Kong, China took silver. Tomar and Verma were awarded bronze after the Chinese boat was removed from the standings.
The women’s skiff was decided on net points after a discard, the usual method in a multi-race fleet. led the series with 14 net points. Hong Kong, were next on 18. India closed with 24 net points from 28 overall, which left them fourth. China sat third on 28 net points from 33 overall, four net points behind India and still inside the medals.
That gap mattered only until the disqualification. Once Hu and Sun were taken out, the boats behind them each moved up a place. India, the first crew outside the original podium, became the bronze medallists. Japan and Hong Kong, China kept gold and silver.
The venue was Kaiyoh Yacht Harbor in Aichi, the sailing base for these Games. Thursday’s medal race completed a series in which small place swings decide the order. A discarded race already separated total points from net points for both India and China. The later ruling did the rest.
On the water, China had done enough for third. Their 28 net points were worse than India’s 24, but still better than every boat behind them, so the Chinese pair held the last medal before the penalty landed. The disqualification wiped that result. It did not hand India a race win they had not sailed. It removed the crew directly above them and rewrote the final order.
Tomar and Verma therefore leave Aichi with bronze despite never finishing the regatta in a medal position on raw standings. The published series scores still show the same picture: 24 net and 28 total for India, 28 net and 33 total for China before the ruling. The medal changed. The numbers they posted did not.
The bronze arrived on a day when Indian sailing already had a reason to celebrate. In the men’s skiff at the same harbour, Manu Francis and Prince Kurisinkal Noble took silver, India’s first Asian Games silver in that event. China won that series. Hong Kong, China took bronze, one net point behind the Indian pair.
The two results are separate. The men earned silver by the points they scored. The women earned bronze after the crew above them was removed. Together they gave India two sailing medals from the skiff events on Thursday, with the rest of the Aichi sailing programme still to finish.
