Olympics-Sailing-Italy's Tita and Banti heading for Nacra sailing medal
By Philip O'Connor
ENOSHIMA, Japan, Aug 1 (Reuters) - The Italian pairing of Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti head into Tuesday's medal race in the Nacra mixed class guaranteed a medal after another strong showing in Sunday afternoon's early races at the Enoshima Yachting Harbour.
Tita and Banti racked up four wins and four second-placed finishes in the 12 opening series races to top the overall standings ahead of the medal race, 12 points clear of the British pair of John Gimson and Anna Burnet, but they are not taking anything for granted.
"In racing, regattas are regattas so you never expect anything, but for sure we are confident in the job we have done the last five years, we have done what we trained for," Tita told reporters.
The Nacra class takes place over an opening series of 12 races to decide the 10 crews that will contest the final, and the medal race itself, with scores carried forward from the opening series. The team with the lowest combined score wins the competition.
The Italians have 23 points, with the British team, who are also guaranteed a medal, on 35. The German team of Paul Kolhoff and Alica Stuhlemmer (47 points) are in third, with Australia's Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin (54 points) fourth.
Later in the afternoon, the medal races in the men's Laser class and the women's Laser Radial category are due to take place. (Reporting by Philip O'Connor Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
