Irish sailing duo Aoife Hopkins and Aisling Keller are on the verge of qualification for Tokyo 2020 with just two races remaining at the Laser Radial World Championships in Japan.
Ten nation places are being decided this week and after the penultimate day's racing on Tuesday in the city of Sakaiminato, the two Irish sailors hold the tenth position.
Hopkins (main photo), from the Howth Yacht Club in Dublin, moved up a place to 41st place while team-mate Keller, from the Lough Derg Yacht Club in Tipperary, slipped down the standings from 40th to 49th.
However, Hopkins’ overall position equates to fifth nation while Keller’s result would be tenth nation. Mathematically, it is still possible that both sailors could slip outside the criteria on the final day.
The Howth sailor was disqualified for a premature starting in the opening race of the day though sailed the course amongst the leading boats.
She then scored a 25th in the race that followed while using the single discard to drop the earlier disqualification.
Aisling Keller - Sakaiminato 2019 Laser Radial World Championship © JUNICHI HIRAI / BULKHEAD magazine JAPANMeanwhile, her team-mate from Lough Derg sailed well in the opening stages of both races but suffered on the downwind legs as conditions were the freshest of the series so far.
"Aoife did exactly what she needed to do after the disqualification - get stuck in and get a good result,” said Rory Fitzpatrick, Irish Sailing’s Head Coach.
"Her confidence and momentum are growing with the experience of racing at this level."
Two final races are scheduled for Wednesday (early-morning Irish time) that will decide the world championship that is currently led by Denmark’s Anne-Marie Rindom.
Subject to qualification for Tokyo 2020 at this opportunity, a selection trial series will follow next year. A further qualification opportunity also exists for European nations in Genoa in April.
Genoa will also be the qualification opportunity for the men’s single-handed Laser event while Ireland’s skiff sailors will seek qualification for the Olympics at the 49er and 49erFX men and women's’ world championships in New Zealand in November.
