Indian sailors Manu Francis and Prince Noble won the silver medal in the men’s skiff event at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya on Thursday, taking India’s overall medal tally to 62.
The Indian pair finished second behind China after nine races, collecting 23 points. Hong Kong took the bronze medal.
Competing in the 49er class, Manu and Prince maintained a consistent performance throughout the event and also won one of the nine races.
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The silver was India’s first medal in sailing at the ongoing Games. It also took India’s overall tally in sailing at the Asian Games to 24 medals, one gold, nine silver and 14 bronze.
India’s only sailing gold at the Asian Games came at the 1982 New Delhi edition, when Farokh Tarapore and Zarir Karanjia finished at the top of the podium.
From Kerala to the Asian Games podium
Manu and Prince’s silver medal marks another step forward in their progress in the 49er class.
The two sailors are relatives as well as childhood friends from Kerala. They started sailing at the grassroots level before training at the National Sailing School in Bhopal and the Muziris Yachting Club, according to SAI Media.
They later continued their training at the Army Yachting Node after joining the Indian Army.
The pair had earlier won bronze medals at the 2022 Asian Sailing Championship in Abu Dhabi and the 2023 Asian Sailing Championships in Pattaya.
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They also finished first in the Yachting Association of India’s second Asian Games selection trial in Mumbai in January this year.
India add more medals across disciplines
India also had a busy day across several other sports.
In wrestling, Nitesh Siwach reached the men’s Greco-Roman 97kg final after beating Mongolia’s Gankhuyag Ganbaatar 9-0. Nitesh, who won a silver medal at the Asian Championships earlier this year, will now fight for gold against either Iran’s Mehdi Balihamzehdeh or Japan’s Yuri Nakazato.
Mansi, meanwhile, lost 0-6 to Japan’s two-time world champion Nonoka Ozaki in the women’s 62kg semifinal. She will now compete for a bronze medal.
India’s women’s squash team also secured a bronze medal after losing 1-2 to Hong Kong in the semifinal.
The men’s sepaktakraw team confirmed a medal after beating Vietnam 2-0 in their quadrant Group A match.
Mixed results in archery and judo
In archery, Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru booked his place in the compound men’s individual semifinals after defeating Chen Chieh-lun.
Chikitha Taniparthi, however, bowed out of the women’s individual event after losing a close quarterfinal to Indonesia’s Nurisa Dian Ashrifah. The Indian lost 143-144.
In judo, Yamini Mourya entered the women’s 57kg repechage following her quarterfinal defeat, while other Indian athletes continued their campaigns in their respective events.
With the sailing silver, India had 62 medals at the Aichi-Nagoya Games at the time of writing, comprising 10 gold, 22 silver and 30 bronze.