Nitin Mongia assured
of OK Dinghy silver
India were assured of a silver medal in the OK Dinghy sailing event at the 14th Asian Games on Tuesday, but sailor Nitin Mongia and his coach Homi Motivala were very upset, alleging that rules are being twisted to help the South Koreans.
Nitin was in gold-medal winning position until the eighth race in which he was disqualified.
"I had contact with Jin's boat and he was in the wrong. A jury member gave witness in my favour yet I was disqualified," Mongia alleged.
"The Koreans are blatantly cheating," claimed national coach Homi Motivala. "Rules are being twisted to ensure that the Koreans win in all classes," he said.
Nitin Mongia, who had won a silver at the Asian championships here last year, lost his focus thereafter.
"These things are affecting Nitin's performance and he seemed unable to concentrate," added Motivala.
"China, Hong Kong and Japan too have protested against the bias towards Korean sailors."
Enterprise class coach Surinder Mongia alleged that Korean sailor H C Jin, who is assured of the gold in the OK Dinghy, was allowed to change his sail after the first day.
"The rules specify that it can be done only if the sail has been badly torn and totally unusable. On checking with the organisers we were informed that permission has been granted, but the discarded sail could not be produced," he said.
Just as Jin is assured of the gold, Nitin too has th silver in his poacket. Both need not sail the 11th and last race of the series tomorrow.
"Jin basically made a wrong choice of sail and got some protection as he was a local sailor," added Motivala.
The Korean race officer also delayed the race in the Mistral class (no Indians in this category) to suit the local entrant.
"I have been race officer in series where my sons participated. At the World championships in Goa this year my son Ashim had a breakage but I did not delay the race. Ashim had to skip that particular race," said Surinder Mongia.
On Sunday, Races 7 and 8 were scheduled in all classes. But one had to be abandoned due to lack of time.
"Ashim was leading in Race 7, followed by the Pakistanis, the Lankans and the Koreans and it was quite clear that the race could not be completed," said Motivala.
