Tokyo Olympics 2020: Medal races await for Kiwi sailing crews

Paul Snow-Hansen and Dan Willcox remain in the hunt for a podium finish in the Olympic Games' 470 regatta, sitting fifth in the standings with just two more qualifying races remaining.

One of the most consistent crews so far, the Kiwis continued their trend of top-10 finishes on Sunday to put themselves just five points outside of third place.

With two races still to play out in the qualifying phase, the pair could well improve their positioning heading into Wednesday's medal race. With the top 10 teams after 10 qualifying races progressing into the medal race, it would take a disaster for the Kiwi duo to miss the main event, as they hold a 17-point buffer over the 11th-placed crew.

For the first time during the regatta, Snow-Hansen and Willcox finished outside of the top 10 in a race, being the 13th team across the line in Sunday's opener. However, with every crew dropping their worst result from their final score in qualifying, that result does not come into calculations for the Kiwis at this point.

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They were back into the top 10 for the second race on Sunday, unable to track down the leaders, but not giving up ground after a decent start to hold down eighth position. Coming around the first two markers in 10th and 11th, the Kiwi crew did well to pass a couple of crews to improve their position in the back end of the race.

Snow-Hansen and Willcox will be back on deck on Monday for the final two qualification races.

Paul Snow-Hansen and Dan Willcox have been a consistent entity in the 470 regatta. Photo / Getty Images

In the laser class, Sam Meech finished his campaign in 10th, being the last one home in the medal race. Meech entered the race eighth but in need of something remarkable in order to move on to the podium., and could not produce it.

Like Meech, Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson's campaign in the Nacra 17 has come to an end, with the pair finishing in 12th and not qualifying for the medal race.

Coming into the final three races, the pair were still a chance to sneak into the top 10 and compete in the medal race, but a poor turn around the second marker in just the first race of the day all but ended that hope.

It appeared that the Kiwis had an issue getting their gennaker sail down and packed away while rounding the mark, which slowed them down and cost them valuable points as they ultimately crossed the line 17th in the 20-strong fleet.

While they were able to finish in eighth in the penultimate race of qualifying, a 14th-place finish in the final race saw the curtain fall on their campaign.

New Zealand still have three boats in action at the Games - Snow-Hansen and Willcox, 49er duo Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, and Finn entry Josh Junior.

Burling and Tuke finished their qualifying stage at the top of the leaderboard and will sail in their medal race on Monday, while Junior has qualified for Tuesday's Finn medal race in fourth position after winning the final qualification race. The win was his second in the 10 races, and he goes into the medal race eight points adrift of third place.

How NZ's sailing crews are placed:

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (49er) - First overall after 12/12 races – qualify for medal race.
Josh Junior (men's Finn) - Fourth overall after 10/10 races – qualifies for medal race.
Paul Snow-Hansen and Dan Willcox (470) - Fifth overall after 8/10 races.
Sam Meech (men's Laser) - finished 10th overall.
Alex Maloney and Molly Meech (49er FX) – finished 12th overall.
Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson (Nacra 17) -finished 12th overall.