NINGBO, China – As their boat crossed the finish line in the waters off the Ningbo Xiangshan Sailing Centre on Tuesday, Justin Liu put his arm around his wife and sailing partner Denise Lim.

It was a subdued celebration from the pair after sealing silver at the Asian Games.

But, for the Nacra 17 duo, behind this small gesture lay a myriad of emotions after a long, choppy journey to their first Asiad medal together.

For this was a medal that took them nine years to achieve.

The pair had tried to qualify for the 2014 Incheon Games but did not make the cut, and the class did not feature in 2018 in Jakarta.

Liu, who previously won two Asiad golds in the men’s 420, said: “To finally be here and get a medal, when we finished it was so many emotions because the journey has been so long and we finally did it.”

The Singaporeans were second with 28 net points after 14 races, behind China’s Zhao Huancheng and Wang Saibo, who had 18.

Their silver was one of the four medals won by Singapore’s sailors on the penultimate day of racing, with Isaac Goh and Keira Carlyle winning a silver and bronze respectively in the ILCA 4 youth classes, and women’s 49erFX pair Kimberly Lim and Cecilia Low clinching a bronze.

Liu and Lim’s sailing journey has been riddled with storms since the couple, both 32, started competing together in 2014. In 2015, they coughed up more than $30,000 to fund their Olympic qualifying campaign for the 2016 Rio Games.

In 2022, they trained on their own as they could not afford a coach – this resulted in them missing out on some regattas where a coach was a prerequisite.

Lim said: “It’s definitely not easy to do it by yourself, it’s much better to have someone outside giving information and having another opinion. Sometimes when you’re in the boat, it’s hard to know how everyone else is doing as well.”

But overcoming these obstacles have made their achievements much more special for the couple, who are gunning for their second Olympics.

Liu said: “It’s what drives you. Whenever things aren’t going so well, you take that in, you hold it and when you finally do something like this, you’re like ‘Oh yes’.”

While the pair were delighted with their medal, there was disappointment for 49erFX defending champions Kimberly and Low, who had to settle for the bronze after finishing five points behind China’s gold medallists Hu Xiaoyu and Shan Mengyuan (27), and Japan’s Misaki Tanaka and Sera Nagamatsu (29).

The duo, who both have two golds and a silver from previous Asiads, cut forlorn figures as they arrived back on shore on Tuesday, where they were surrounded by teammates and officials.

Kimberly, 27, said: “In the end, it’s going to be hard to swallow. It will set in soon enough but all we can take is all the good stuff, learn from what else didn’t go so well.”

It had been a challenging week for the pair, who said they were still figuring out the right set-up for their boat after an equipment change in their class.

They have also struggled with injuries since returning to full-time training in May.

But Kimberly and Low, who made history at the Tokyo Olympics by becoming the first Singaporeans to qualify for a medal race, confirmed that they will be trying for a second Olympic outing.

They will return to Singapore for a short break before heading to Portugal to train ahead of November’s European championships and the Asian Continental Olympic Qualifier a month later.

Low, 32, said: “We couldn’t have done anything different and that was something we have to hold on to and work towards the next event.”

For youngsters Isaac and Keira, their Asiad debuts will be unforgettable.

Keira, 17, had to endure a nerve-racking night before her final race as she entered the last day in fourth spot.

She needed to finish higher than South Korea’s Seol Jaek-young – level on points but third with more first-place finishes – in order to secure a bronze.

And the teenager delivered, winning her final race to finish third overall on 28 net points. Thailand’s Noppassorn Khunboonjan claimed the gold with 16 net points and India’s Neha Thakur (27) won the silver.

Isaac finished second with 21 net points after 11 races, behind Thailand’s world champion Weka Bhanubandh (13) and ahead of Malaysia’s Asnawi Iqbal Adam (44).

In the 49er, Singapore’s Koh Yi Nian and Tan Jen-E finished sixth with 68 net points.

The final day of sailing on Wednesday will see several Singaporeans gunning for medals.

Kitefoiler Maximilian Maeder will contest in the medal series after winning all 16 of his races, while ILCA 7 sailor Ryan Lo is first on 26 net points heading into the medal race, seven ahead of three-time defending champion Ha Jee-min of South Korea.

Victoria Chan sits third in the ILCA 6 standings while iQfoilers Marsha Shahrin and Elkan Oh are fourth and sixth respectively in the women’s and men’s events.