Kendall's Domination Continues At Olympic Qualifie

Kendall's Domination Continues At Olympic Qualifier

A further two races have been sailed in the men's fleet and one in the women's at the 2002 Mistral World Championships in Pattaya, Thailand.

Olympic medallist Barbara Kendall just missed out on what would have been her third bullet in the competition finishing in 2nd place. Faustine Merret of France is just holding onto her 2nd place overall, but Kendall has widened the gap to an impressive 12 point lead. With racing concluding on Sunday she looks set to be the first NZL Mistral sailor to qualify the Country for a place at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Being one of only 10 Olympic Qualifier's in a fleet of 64 competitors will be a significant achievement for Kendall, with this regatta being her first after taking time out from competition.

High Performance Manager, Peter Lester comments, "It's great to see that after two years off the circuit, Barbara has come back and shown that her sheer talent is still there and she's right back into it battling it out with the best in the world".

Sheena Mckinnon is currently in 24th place, with Julie Worth just below the halfway mark in 34th. In the men's fleet, Jon Paul Tobin finished the day with a 4th, allowing him to move up 9 places on the leader board to 26th. Thomas Ashley suffered a disappointing day with (52, 11) and has slipped back to 34th.

Matthew McCormick has jumped up 12 places from yesterday and is sitting in 38th overall in the 109 competitor fleet.

There is racing scheduled for three more days, with the regatta due to finish on Sunday 15th December. There are minimum of two races planned for each day.

The team's coach, Bruce Kendall, can be contacted on mobile + 66 61 47 46 17 (Thailand is 6 hours behind NZ)

Official Regatta Website: < http://www.windsurfingthailand.com/ewc/imco_notice.php >

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