Indian Cyclists steal the limelight on Day 2 of Asian Track Cycling Championships

• – India gets 2 silver & 3 bronze in main championships while 1 gold, 1 silver & 1 bronze were added by Para athletes
• – 12 medals will be on stake today

Khel Today Bureau 

New Delhi: Day 2 of the Asia Track Cycling Championship came to an end, with 12 final rounds including 4 finals for Para Cycling events. India added 1 Gold, 3 Silver & 4 more Bronze medals into kitty and got 18 medals till now in 41st Senior, 28th Junior Asian Track & 10th Para Track Cycling Championships. 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze came into Para Cycling for India while 2 Silver & 3 Bronze medals added by Senior & Junior athletes.

In the Women Junior category, Pooja Danole opened the Indian tally on the second day by adding a bronze medal in the Individual Pursuit Women Junior Category. She clocked 2:31.277s to claim the third position and also created a New National Record breaking her own previous record of 2:37.410s. Gold medal was awarded to Mizuki Ikeda of Japan who clocked 49.911s while Yunyeong Cheon of Korea claimed Silver medal with a timing of 47.898s.

“I have been practicing for the last 7 years for this medal and this medal means a lot to me. I’m thankful to my coach Mr. VN Singh who gave us courage to win the medals at the international arena”, squealed an elated Pooja, who won her first medal in the Individual pursuit event.

The biggest heartbreak of the day came from India’s no. 1 Esow when he failed to convert his performance into a medal in the Keirin event in Elite Men category. He finished 5th in the event.

“I tried my best but definitely it was not my day said Esow after the event. There is no excuse for a medal loss, opponents prepared and performed well. I will surely give the medals to India in the coming days of the Championships.”

However, there was some relief for the host when Vishwajit Singh of India won Bronze of Senior Men Individual Pursuit category who clocked 9 minutes to complete the 4km race. He defeated Kiat Chun Lim of Malaysia who clocked 10 minutes. In the qualifying round, Vishwajit timing 4:31.380s was behind his opponent from Malaysia 4:31.130s but Vishwajit gave his best in the finals and won a medal for India.

Gold was won by Shoi Matsuda of Japan and Silver was claimed by Sanghoon Park of Korea.

In the Men Junior category, Niraj Kumar lost Gold medal to Kazakhstan rider Maxim Traskin who showed his supremacy in the event and overlapped Niraj after 2000m in the race. Niraj got Silver while Bronze was won by Seungmin Hong of Korea who defeated Uzbekistan rider Diyor Takhirov.

Mayuri Dhanraj Lute hogged the limelight of the day after winning the Bronze medal of 500m Time Trial event. She won 2 bronze medals in 2 days of championships, this was her first ever individual medal in the Senior category. She clocked 36.481s in time trial with a speed of 49.340 km/h to earn the honours. Gold was won by Nurul Izzah Mohd Asri of Malaysia who pedalled the cycle with a speed of 50.705 km/h and clocked 35.499s while Silver was claimed by Bomi Kim of Korea who finished in 36.374s.

“It’s a big day in my career, I was waiting for this moment for a long time, without going by the colour of the medal, it is still memorable for me, I want to thank all the people who believed in me” said Mayuri.

 

“Indian team certainly performed above everyone’s expectations; it is turning out to be the best ever performance by any Indian contingent, Cycling Federation of India is happy that Indian Cyclists are fighting for every medal that is up for grabs”, said Maninder Singh, General Secretary Cycling Federation of India.

Leila Heydariveirani of Iran secured the very first medal for Iran on the second day of the Asian Track Cycling Championship, here at the IGI Stadium. She bagged the bronze medal of Junior Women Category with a timing of 38.033s. Sadnya Kotake added Silver medal for India with 37.823s while Chaeyeon KIM of Korea won Gold with 35.740s.

The star rider of India Meenakshi also failed to bag a medal in Individual Pursuit of Women Elite category. She clocked 3:50.223s and ranked fifth in the event. Gold was claimed by Jumi Lee of Korea (3:38.334s). Silver was awarded to Kie Furuyama of Japan (3:47.330s) while Yanina Kuskova of Uzbekistan claimed the Bronze medal.

As for her (Meenakshi) performance, Meenakshi remarked, “There’s always room for improvement and as is clear, this wasn’t my best performance till date.”

 

Warishdeep Singh & Luv Kumar Yadav finished 9th & 10th place in the Men Juniors – Keirin event final and David Beckham finished 8th in the Men Elite – Keirin event.

Para Cycling

The first event was Para Men B 1km Time Trial where Japan’s Kazuhei Kimura & Ryoki Henzan earned Gold with a timing of 1:04.185s while Thailand riders Jakkit Punthong & Muncheth Faimuenvai claimed Silver (1:08.648s) and Bronze was also won by their team mates Suradet S & Nopphakao S who clocked 1:12.105s.

In Women Para B 1km Time Trial Thailand riders Rungarun Ratsamee & Thipphawan Naphom were the lone participants who clocked 1:08.648s to finish the race and were awarded Gold medal.

 

India’s Jyoti Gaderaya won Gold while teammate Geeta Rao got Silver medal in the Para Women Individual Pursuit event. They clocked 5:24.990s & 6:12.939s respectively to complete the race.

India added one more bronze medal in the Para Men 4km Individual Pursuit event when Arshad Sheik of India clocked 5:43.604s to finish in third place. Iran’s Mahdi Mohammadi (5:24.218s) & Behrooz Farzad (5:34.339s) clinched Gold & Silver respectively.

The day wrapped up with an exciting aura gripping the championship.

MEDAL TALLY OF 41ST SENIOR & 28TH JUNIOR ASIAN TRACK CYCLING CHAMPIONSHIPS

COUNTRY GOLD SILVER BRONZE

KOREA 9 5 1

JAPAN 4 4 0

KAZAKHSTAN 2 2 1

MALAYSIA 1 2 3

INDIA 0 3 9

IRAN 0 0 1

UZBEKISTAN 0 0 1

 

MEDAL TALLY OF 10TH PARA TRACK CYCLING CHAMPIONSHIPS

COUNTRY GOLD SILVER BRONZE

INDIA 2 2 2

THAILAND 2 2 2

IRAN 2 1 0

JAPAN 2 0 0