Malaysian sailor Khairulnizam Mohd Afendy secured a bronze medal in the men's dinghy class at the Asian Games held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. The veteran, a four-time Olympian competing in his fifth Asian Games, rallied in the final stages of the competition and finished with 14 points, trailing behind gold medalist Ha Jee-min of South Korea, who earned nine points, and silver medalist Nicholas Bezy Halliday of Hong Kong with 11 points.
Khairulnizam’s podium finish marks his third Asian Games medal, having previously won silver in both the 2014 Incheon and 2018 Jakarta editions. Reflecting on his performance, the 33-year-old noted the challenging sailing conditions, citing strong winds and frequent rain as factors that made it difficult to stabilize the boat. Despite hoping for a better result, he expressed satisfaction with his comeback after missing the podium at the last Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2023, where he finished eighth.
Ha Jee-min reinforced his status as one of Asia’s leading sailors by capturing his fourth Asian Games gold medal in the men's dinghy category. The South Korean athlete has now secured an early qualification spot for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Thai teenager Sophia Montgomery and Singapore’s Jania Ang also booked Olympic berths following standout performances in the women’s dinghy class. Montgomery claimed gold with five points, while Ang earned silver with 13 points. Malaysia’s defending champion in the category, Nur Shazrin Abdul Latif, was unable to repeat her previous success and finished seventh overall with 35 points.
Malaysia also added two more bronze medals in the skiff events. The boys’ skiff team composed of Mohd Adam Aierell and Musmuliadi Iqbal Nazham secured third place with 39 points. Similarly, Nor Izniely Humaira and Aina Zulaikha Azizul Rahman captured bronze in the girls’ skiff, also finishing with 39 points. The gold medals in the girls’ and boys’ skiff categories went to Hong Kong’s Chloe Kong and McCarley Wong with 14 points and Japan’s Natsumi Funazawa and Natsuko Funazawa with 20 points, respectively.
The sailing competition at the Asian Games highlighted emerging talent alongside seasoned veterans, with several athletes securing early qualifications for next summer’s Olympic Games in Los Angeles.