LANGKAWI, 21 FEBRUARY, 2012: National elite sailor Khairul Nizam Afendy stormed into contention on the third day of the Asian Sailing Championships by moving into second place after seven races in the Laser Standard class here today.

Khairul, languishing in fourth and fifth places respectively on the first two days, revived his title hopes with a splendid display today to leapfrog over sailors from China, Qatar and Singapore.

With five races remaining, Khairul will remain optimistic of turning the sails over leader Thailand's Keerati Bualong, winner of the Laser Standard gold at the SEA Games in Indonesia recently.

Meanwhile, National back up sailor Ahmad Latif Khan who was leading the 4.7 Laser Open category for the past two days, was pipped by team mate Mohd Farhan Hamid while Singapore's Teodora Ng Yin remained in third spot.

Category 29er leader Napakao Poonpat from Thailand however, had no problem in maintaining his supremacy in the event when he kept Hong Kong's Grelon Cosmas and Ganapathy from India, at bay.

Cosmas and Ganapathy also maintained second and third spots respectively.

The eight-day championships features 276 sailors from 16 countries competing in 17 categories hosted by Malaysia at the Langkawi Sailing Complex.


- Bernama