New Delhi: India had a quite day at the IG Velodrome today with Jashanjit Kaur missing out on the bronze medal by fractions as Kazakhstan’ Yekaterina Yuraitis beat the Indian at the post by less than a second even as the women’s junior team made amends for the disappointment by staying in contention for another bronze in Team Pursuit on the second day of the track events at the Hero Asian Cycling Championship.
At the end of the second day, the Koreans were leading the chart with 5 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze, to make it 8 medals in all. They were followed by Hong Kong (4-2-0) and Malaysia (2-2-2) in that order. India, with their lone bronze won yesterday are placed ninth on the medal table.
India’s ‘wonderkid’ Deborah was again in the thick of things, playing a crucial role in the Women’s Junior Team Pursuit event. The 17-year-old provided the impetus by setting the pace to keep the country’s hopes of winning another medal alive.
She entered the arena after more than half a day’s rest and instantly put in the team list to lead the charge with teammates – Bidhyalaxmi Devi, N Geeturaj and Jashanjit Kaur—in a race that starts with four riders and finishes with three. The quartet will fight it out with Kazakhstan for the third place finish in the final to be held on March 11.
Speaking on behalf of the team, the Andaman resident said: ‘’We had confidence in each one of us and it helped us to finish with a good timing. I am sure we will win medal on Monday.”
According to team manager S. Radhakrishnan, the quartet had done immensely well. “Our timing is so good I can say with some certainty that we will finish on the podium. We had been preparing for the endurance event (changed from 3 km to 4 km by UCI only last month) as per old rules. But the girls have surprised one and all,” said the official.
The 16-year-old Jashanjit, who was in contention for a bronze medal in individual pursuit clocked 2.41.024, falling short by fractions to Kazak’s Yekaterina who locked 2.40.395. ‘’Of course, I am disappointed because I was leading up to the fifth lap. But this was my first international race and I can only improve from here on. I must give credit to the Kazakh who rode tactically,” said the 12th class student of Yadvindra Public School from Patiala.
However, all the attention will be on Deborah as she eyes a historic second medal for India in the junior sprint event (3 km) which will be held on the last day. India’s best performance in the high profile continental championships has been a solitary silver way back in 2005 when India hosted the Championships in Ludhiana.
The gritty Tsunami survivor will take on Malaysian Farihah Sha on March 11 and if she wins the semifinal, she will fight for gold against the winner of the other semifinal, which is between two South Koreans. The losers fight for the bronze.
March 8 Results
Individual Pursuit (WJ)
Yao Pang – Hong Kong (2:34.534), Ju Yi Lin –Taipei (2:39.880), Yekaterina Yuraitis (Kazakhstan) – 2:40.395
Individual Pursuit (WE)
Youri Kim – Korea (3:49.058), Sakura Tsukagoshi – Japan (3:51.792), Jin Jiu Li – China (3:54.274)
Individual Pursuit (ME)
Sunjae Jang – Korea (4:38.177), Dias Omirzakov – Kazakhstan (4:40.801), Alireza Haghi - Iran (4:34.703)
Points Race 30 km (ME)
Hosung Cho – Korea (39 points), Ho Ki Choi – Hong Kong (34 points), Mohd. Rajablou – Iran (34 points)
Individual Pursuit (MJ)
Magomed Mamedov – Kazakhstan (3:28.826), Kohei Suzuki – Japan (3:32.039), Mohd. Razali – Malaysia (3:34.701)
Madison – Men Elite 25 km
Ting Ho Kwok & Ho Ki Choi – Hong Kong (21 points), Sunjae Jang & Seungwoo Choi – Korea (17 points), & Alireza Haghi & Mohd. Rajablou – Iran (6 points)
By Indian Sports News Network
