Italy’s Mattia Di Martino on course for gold at Abu Dhabi regatta

ABU DHABI: Italian sailor Mattia Di Martino remained on course for the gold medal at the 2023 Optimist Asian and Oceanian Championship in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, despite losing his impressive 100 percent winning record on a day of four races.

After four successive victories during the first two days of the international regatta, Di Martino had to settle for 10th place in a race won by Augustas Buividas of Australia. It was enough, however, for the young Italian to retain his overall lead ahead of Spain’s Joan Domingo, who recorded his third win of the championship in Thursday’s first race, followed by 10th place in the second.

The second race was won by Thailand’s Chanatip Tongglum. It was her second victory of the regatta and lifted her to third place in the overall standings at the event, which is taking place at Abu Dhabi Marine Sports Club.

Italian Pietro Lucchesi climbed to 13th position with his first win of the championship in the day’s third race, in which he finished ahead of Ethan Ethan of Singapore, a silver medalist at last year’s South East Asian Games, and Turkey’s Derin Degisen.

In the day’s fourth and final fleet race, Hong Kong’s Zihan Liu moved up to 12th in the overall standings after crossing the line ahead of Singapore teammates Lucas Cao and Nicole Lim.

Sponsored by Abu Dhabi Ports and Al-Mariah Bank, the regatta is hosted by the sports club in cooperation with the UAE Sailing and Rowing Federation, the Asian Sailing Federation, and Abu Dhabi Sports Council.

The event, which continues until Nov. 5, is the continental championship for Asian and Oceanian member nations of the International Optimist Dinghy Association. It oversees the fundamental class in the world of sailing for the 7-15 year