India shine on day 1 of Asian Track Cycling Championships 2022

New Delhi [India], June 18 (ANI): Asian Track Cycling Championships, organised by Cycling Federation of India, kicked off here today at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, New Delhi on Saturday. Participants from 15 countries are competing in this enthralling cycling event where riders from Asian countries are trying to improve their ranking en route to qualify for World Championships. India has an added advantage to perform at their home track.
The opening day of the 41st Senior, 28th Junior Asian Track and 10th Para Track Cycling Championships witnessed 12 finals out of which 4 were for Para Championships.
Indian team bagged one Silver and six Bronze medals in the 41st Senior and 28th Junior Asian Cycling Championships while 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze in the 10th Para Track Cycling Championships.
Team India opened their medal tally with a Silver medal in the Junior Women 4km team pursuit event, Pooja Dhanole, Himanshi Singh, Reet Kapoor & Jasmeek Kaur Sekhon clocked 4:54.034s against Korean riders Kim Chaeyeon, Cheon Yunyeong, Kim Eunsong, An Yeongseo who clocked 4:47.360s and bagged Gold while Kazakhstan bagged Bronze of the event with 4:48.872s. In the qualifying round held in the morning session, the Indian Team clocked 4:54.884s and outclassed Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan Riders and placed second in the heats to qualify for the final.
In the Senior Women 4Km Team Pursuit event, the Indian riders consisting of Rejiye Kh Devi, Chayanika Gogoi, Meenakshi and Monika Jat outclassed Uzbekistan riders Evegeniya Golotina, Madina Kakhkhorova, Margarita Misyurina, Yania Kuskova to secure bronze medal by clocking 4:44.699s against 4:47.545s of Uzbekistan. After a gap of 17 years, the Indian team could win any medal in the Senior Women category in any Asian Track Cycling Championships. Gold & Silver of the event was won by Korea (Jumi Lee, Jieun Shin, Youri Kim, Ahreum Na) and Kazakhstan respectively.
Meenakshi said after the event that it was a neck-to-neck fight & I was watching the Uzbek riders who were giving a good competition but we gave our best and the result was in our favour. I'm happy that I was part of the Indian team who won the first-ever medal in the Senior category in any Asian Track Cycling Championships.
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Another Bronze came for Team India when Team of Niraj Kumar, Birjit Yumnam, Aashirwad Saxena, Gurnoor Poonia clocked 4:22.737s against Uzbekistan (Abdulkhamid Tuychiev, Sanjarbek Ergashev, Diyor Takhirov, Vladislav Troman) 4:26.995 in Junior Men 4km Team Pursuit event. Kazakhstan won Gold while Korea bagged Silver in the event.
Senior Men Team of 4 Km Team Pursuit Japan riders Shoi Matsuda, Kazushige Kuboki, Shunsuke Imamura, Naoki Kojima won Gold by overlapping the Korean riders in the event. The Indian team also added a bronze to the kitty when they outclassed Kazakhstan riders in the last lap to secure the medal. The Indian team was far behind till 3000m but in the last lap, Indian cyclists pedalled fast to clock 4:07.901s against 4:13.688s of Kazakhstan.
Chief Coach VN Singh said, "India has progressed a lot in the endurance events, around 8 years ago it was difficult to complete the race but now the scenario has changed and Indian riders are not only completing the races but also winning the medals." (ANI)