Cycling: India
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Contents |
Records, national
200m flying time
9.946 seconds Ronaldo Singh Laitonjam, 2022
10.168 seconds Ronaldo Singh Laitonjam, 2021
National track cycling championships
2016
M.R. Praveen Chandran, August 17, 2018: The Hindu
Esow Alban is touted as the next big star of Indian cycling and at the LNCPE velodrome on Saturday, the cyclist from Andaman and Nicobar showed why he is rated so highly. Esow blitzed his way to a new national record in the under-18 boys’ sprint event of the 69th senior, 46th junior and 32nd sub-junior National track cycling championships.
Competing in an higher age category, Esow comprehensively beat his challenger and teammate Arkaprava Baul by half-a-cycle length to win the gold. Esow clocked 11.207s to break P. Sanuraj’s old mark (11.620) which was set in 2015.
This is third gold medal of the meet for the rower-turned-cyclist who trains at the National Cycling Academy in New Delhi.
“I was confident of breaking the record. I was doing well in training. Sprint is my favourite event and I competed in the under-18 section as there was no sprint event in the under-14 and under-16 sections,” said Esow after the race.
Esow’s record was the highlight of the penultimate day’s proceedings which saw Kerala maintain its lead at the top of the points table. Deborah of Andaman and Nicobar renewed her rivalry with Kezia Varghese in the women’s sprint and easily beat the Kerala girl in the two races to decide the gold winner.
With a neck injury preventing her from going all out, Kezia’s chance depended on her start but Deborah’s superior speed proved to be the difference between the two riders. Deborah after trailing Kezia overtook her at the curve to win the gold.
Sanuraj of Services won the men’s sprint event beating Railways’ Amarjeet Singh.
The Kerala women won the 4000m team pursuit event with a comprehensive win over Railways. The trio of Sayona, Amritha and Kezia were consistent even as fourth rider Rejani dropped out when two laps remained in the race. Kerala finished at least 50 metres ahead of its rival to win the gold in 5:37.861s. Railway men won the team pursuit beating arch-rival Services for the gold.
But Karnataka underlined its growing stature in the track events by winning the 4000m team pursuit gold in both boys’ and girls’ sections in the under-18 category.
The State doesn’t have a velodrome but a majority of Karnataka’s cyclists competing here are trainees of the National Cycling Academy and they are behind the state’s success this year. Karnataka with two gold medals climbed to second spot in the points table with 40. Kerala leads the table with 62 points. Manipur is in third with 32 points.
The results: Men: 4000m Team pursuit: 1. RSPB (4:41.040s), 2. SSCB, 3. Rajasthan; Sprint: 1. P. Sanuraj (SSCB) (11.226s), 2. Amarjeet Singh Negi (RSPB), 3. Ramesh Nagarajan (TN).
Boys: Under-18: 4000m Team pursuit: 1. Karnataka (4:54.393s), 2. Rajasthan, 3. Punjab; Sprint: 1. Esow (A & N) (11.207s - NMR; OR - 11.620, P. Sanuraj, Kerala, 2015).
Women: 4000m Team pursuit: 1. Kerala (5.37.861s), 2. RSPB, 3. Manipur; Sprint: 1. Deborah (A &N) (12.456), 2. Kezia Varghese, 3. Manorama Devi (RSPB).
Girls: Under-18: 4000m Team pursuit: 1. Karnataka (5:40.781), 2. Kerala, 3. Maharashtra; Sprint: Shushikala Agashe (Maharashtra) (13.081), 2. Anu Chutia M. (Assam), 3. P. Nayana Rajesh (Kerala).
Internationally
2011: India no. 149 in world
Onkar Singh, Secretary General, CFI said in 2016 “5 years back [in 2011], when we taken over Cycling Federation of India at that time Indian Cyclists were at 149th place in World Ranking but now Indian Cycling has been improved much and most of our riders are Under-10 rank in UCI World Ranking. The day is not so far when we will win the medals in World Championships, he added.”
2018
India’s first ever world track cycling medal
After sprinter Hima Das's historic gold at the IAAF World Under-20 Athletics Championships in July, teenager Esow Alben has made the world take notice of Indian cycling this time. On Thursday, the 17-year-old won the country's maiden medal in track cycling at the world level by claiming silver in the Men's Keirin event of the UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships in Aigle, Switzerland.
Esow was only 0.017 seconds adrift of Czech Republic's Jakub Stastny, who secured gold in the pulsating final few seconds of the race.
"It's a big medal for me and for India too," Esow said after the race. The bronze medal went to Kazakhstan's Andrey Chugay.
"My heartiest gratitude to our coaching department under Mr. RK Sharma and the relentless cyclists who are putting their heart out to achieve what at one time seemed impossible," the Cycling Federation of India's (CFI) secretary general, Onkar Singh, told Timesofindia.com from Jakarta, where he is accompanying the Indian contingent for the Asian Games.
Although, it's a maiden Worlds medal for India in track cycling, Esow's credentials and talent were never in doubt. He became the world No. 1 junior sprint cyclist after a stupendous show at the Asian Track Championships, the 2018 Cottbuser Sprint Cup 2 and GP Brno Track Cycling competitions.
Heading into the finals at Aigle, Esow finished on top in heats during the first round, clocking 10.851 seconds in 200m.
"I just wanted to stay at the front and avoid getting involved in any crashes," Esow, who is a first-year junior and product of the UCI World Cycling Centre here, said.
"I could have won (gold) but I am still happy with a silver. I'm happy that I could win a medal in World Championships,” the teen from Andaman and Nicobar said.
The CFI secretary general also thanked the authorities for putting their trust in the sport and the federation.
“Thanks to all the CFI members and to the Sports Authority of India for their continued faith and support. With God's grace, this journey, which we started four years ago, is slowly but surely taking us to our ultimate goal of excellence. And it continues with bigger hopes and greater expectations. Thanks to everyone who supported us in our mission of excellence,” Singh said.
The team events didn't bring any medal for India, though. The trio of Esow, Mayur Pawar and James Keithellakpam Singh timed 15.957s in 200m and 26.914s in 400m to bow out of the race to reach the finals. Download The Times of India News App for Latest Sports News.
Track Asia Cup
2015: India 3rd
The Times of India, Nov 21 2015
India finish impressive 3rd with 11 medals
India finished their campaign in a creditable third position with an impressive 11 medals, including three gold, three silver and five bronze in the Track Asia Cup cycling tournament at the IGI sports complex, here on Friday . Korea finished at the top with six gold, three silver and three bronze while Uzbekistan secured second spot with three gold and four silver medals.
On the final day , India won two gold and three bronze medals. Young cycling sensation Deborah made a fine start on the final day of the competition by winning the gold medal in the women Elite Sprint event clocking 13.614 seconds to beat Korea's Cho Sun Young (13.704s). Deborah also missed one medal opportunity as she fell down in her favourite Keiren event. On the final lap, she couldn't maintain her balance and fell down on the track and after coming in contact of Deborah, Thailand's Pannaray Ra see also lost her balance and collided. Deborah eventually settled for one gold and two silver medals (including one from team event).
“I am bit upset that I missed medal in one of my favourite event Keirin-WE as I fell down.I could have won one more gold for India and I was leading but unfortunately I fell down and couldn't win the medal. Anyways you improve with every tournament. The overall performance of our team is better,“ Deborah said. In the junior women Sprint finals, India's Nayana Rajesh bagged the gold while Anu Chutia clinched bronze. PTI
2016: India finished second
India grabs 8 medals on the final day of the Track Asia Cup 2016 India finished second in the medal tally with 16 medals including 5 Gold, 4 Silver and 7 Bronze. by
The Women Junior Sprint final saw India bag the first two positions
On the final day of the Track Asia Cup, India has taken home 8 medals including 2 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze medals at the Cycling Velodrome in IG Stadium today. India finished second in the medal tally with 16 medals including 5 Gold, 4 Silver and 7 Bronze after Hongkong with 18 medals including 11 Gold, 4 Silver and 3 Bronze.
Deborah in her Final Sprint event took the first position, grabbing a gold medal with a time of 12.576 and 12.493 in the first and second round respectively. She beat Zhaojuan of Hong Kong, who went on to take the silver medal, clocking 12.820 and 12.734 in both the rounds respectively.
Kezia Varghese of India was given the fourth in this event.
Deborah lost the gold medal in her favourite event ‘Keirin’ by a whisker and could manage only silver ahead of her teammate Kezia Varghese (Bronze) while two other riders of Hongkong and Malaysia collapsed and fell down after which they were unable to complete the race. Deborah turns out to be the star performer of the event with having 3 gold and one silver medal with her.
In the Men’s elite Keirin event, Indian cyclist Amarjeet Singh fails to win any medal and finished 8th.
The bronze medal was awarded to our Indian cyclist Sanuraj P with a timing of 12.203 and 12.322 in the first and second round respectively. Emerson was at the fourth position with timing of 12.225 and 11.352 in both the rounds.
In the Men’s Junior Keirin, Emerson won bronze medal for India.
The Women Junior Sprint final, however, saw India bag the first two positions adding another gold and a silver to the medal tally. Nayana Rajesh, was awarded the gold medal and was clocked at 12.658 and 12.865 in both the rounds respectively. Anu Chutia grabbed the silver position, with a timing of 12.764 and 13.178 in the first and second rounds.
However the Men Elite Sprint Final could not manage getting any positions in the event.
In the team Elite Women’s team pursuit, India bagged bronze medal comprising Raj Kumari Devi, Bidya Luxmi Tourangbam, Ratuja Satputhe and G Amritha Regunath.
The main attraction of the last day was the point race of 30Km where 14 riders took part together and they have to complete the 120 rounds of the track. However, Indian couldn’t win the medal in this race and Krishna Nayakodi and Ramesh Nagarajan could secure 8th place & 10th place respectively but the stamina and pace maintained by them was amazing and we can hope the medals in future with this event.
2017: India no.1
Rank 1 India Gold 7 Silver 9 Bronze 5 Total 21
Rank 10 Bangladesh Gold 0 Silver 0 Bronze 1 Total 1
Track Asia Cup: India win seven gold, top medals tally in event |Oct 12, 2017 | PTI
India won seven gold, nine silver and five bronze medals at the Track Asia Cup as they topped the medal tally in the tournament, followed by China.
Indian Cycling team finished their campaign by winning four medals, including two silver and two bronze on final day of the tournament.
China finished second with four gold and two silver medals while Indonesia secured third place with four Gold, one silver and two bronze medals. In the morning session, India juniors Mayur Pawar and JK Ashwin secured silver and bronze respectively in Sprint event.
Mayur clocked 11.045s with a speed of 65.188km/hr, while Ashwin finished in 11.098s with 64.877km/hr speed.
The bronze medal of Women Elite Sprint event was won by P Nayana Rajesh with 11.940s.
Ranjit Singh added a silver to India’s tally after clinching the medal in Men Keirin event. Malaysia’s Muhammad Fadhil won the gold, while his teammate Muhammad Khairil Nizam Rasol bagged the bronze.
In Men Omnium event, Ashton Lambe of USA added a silver to the gold medal that he won yesterday in the 4Km Individual Pursuit event.
Biggest upset for India was when Deborah finished fifth in her favourite event Keirin, even though she secured a berth for the World Cup. In Keirin, out of 5 rounds, in last 2.5 rounds cyclists have to defeat through their speed.
China cyclists Shanju Bao and Chaorui Song claimed gold and silver respectively, while P Nayana Rajesh, who is representing India’s second team ‘SAINCA’ claimed bronze
2018: Track Asia Cup
Opening day: India wins three gold, three silver, one bronze
India impress in Track Asia Cup cycling, September 22, 2018: The Times of India
India secured three gold medals, three silver and a bronze on the opening day of the fifth Track Asia Cup cycling here on Friday. The tournament at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium is being organised by the Cycling Federation of India and has attracted participation from 12 countries.
Bilal Ahmed Dar opened India’s tally with a silver in point race of 15km in junior men category, winning 19 points. Kazakhstan’s Danll Pekhotin earned 22 points and grabbed the gold, while Venkanpa S Kengalgutti of SAINCA’s (India's another team) bagged bronze.
Mayuri Lute won the country’s first gold medal in the women junior 500 metre. She outclassed Thailand’s Kanyarat Hnokaew by clocking 37.538s with a speed of 47.95 kph. Kazakhstan’s Alyona Abramchuk won bronze with 38.628s.
After winning the gold medal, Mayuri said, “There was no pressure on me and I enjoyed the race. This is a good exposure for us, I’m thankful to CFI for organising this regularly.”
In the women elite 500 metre time trial category, India’s M Sonali Chanu (37.140s) had to be contend with bronze, finishing behind two Indonesian cyclists. The Indian men’s junior team performed as expected in the team sprint event, winning another gold by defeating Kazakhstan.
2019
Day 1: India wis 12 medals, including four gold
India pockets 12 medals, including four gold, on Day 1 of Track Asia Cup:
India made a bumper start to its Track Asia Cup campaign winning 12 medals, including four gold, in a complete show of dominance on Monday. It was the the world-class junior team which stood up to the expectations and captured the gold in men’s junior team sprint event. The women’s junior and elite teams also shone and returned with two gold medals. Ronaldo Laitonjam stole the show for India as the junior world champion won two gold medals in one day. He first helped junior men’s team to win the gold in sprint event and then returned to finish the day with the yellow metal in the 1km time trial event at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium. Triyasha Paul also won two gold medals on the opening day. She first paired with Nikita Nisha to finish at the top of the podium in the junior women’s sprint event.
Day 2: Ronaldo creates Jr. Asian record; India wins 4 more medals
Sep 11, 2019: The Times of India
India’s Ronaldo Laitonjam continued his impressive run, creating an Asian record for men’s junior 200m time trial event at the Track Asia Cup cycling competition here on Tuesday. After winning two gold medals on Day 1, Ronaldo clocked 10.065 seconds in the qualifying round to break the previous record held by China’s Liu Qi, who had completed the race in 10.149 seconds in 2018. “Qualifying for the finals was in my mind but when I saw the score board, I was surprised and happy,” an elated Ronaldo said. Table-toppers India continued their medal rush, capturing three more medals to add to the 12 medals that the country won on Day 1 at the Indira Gandhi Indoor stadium here. PTI
Day 3: India tops tally
Sep 12, 2019: The Times of India
Ronaldo Laitonjam won his fourth gold of the meet as India picked up three medals on the concluding day to emerge overall champions in the Track Asia Cup cycling competition here on Wednesday. India topped the medal tally with 10 gold, 8 silver and 7 bronze medals as the tournament came to an end at the IGI Sports Complex here. The home team clinched 2 gold and 1 bronze on final day.
Uzbekistan finished overall second with 4 gold and 3 silver, while Malaysia secured third place with 4 gold and 1 silver. Ronaldo once again hogged the limelight by winning a gold in junior men’s Keirin event. PTI
2022
A
June 22, 2022: Times Now Asian Track Cycling Championship: India's Ronaldo Singh Laitonjam created a national record in 200m time-trial as he qualified for the semi-finals of the sprint event. Ronaldo had earlier won a bronze medal in a 1 km time trial event. While India remained medal-less in Day 4, the tally stayed at 20 (2 gold, 5 silver and 13 bronze medals).
India's Ronaldo Singh created a national record in 200m Flying time-trial by breaching the 10 seconds barrier on way to the semifinals of men's Elite sprint race event on the fourth day of the Asian Track Cycling Championship here on Tuesday.
World junior champion and Asian record holder Ronaldo, who had bagged the country's first-ever international medal in the 1km time trial event by claiming a bronze on Monday, clocked 9.946 seconds to create the national record.
His earlier national record was 10.168 seconds, which he had set in UCI Track Cycling Nation Cup at St Petersburg, Russia in July last year.
However, none of the Indian cyclists could reach the podium in six finals on day four of the competition.
Indian rider Esow once again failed to win his quarterfinal event of men's sprint, losing to Andrey Chugay of Kazakhstan to finish empty-handed in this tournament.
Harashveer Singh Sekhon gave a good fight to Korean opponent Euro Kim and Japan's Naoki Kojima in 30,000m points race before finishing fourth with 43 points.
Hammadi Al Mirza secured gold in this event with 69 points, followed by Korea (61 points) and Japan (60 points) riders in this power event, where peddlers have to go for sprints after every 10 laps of 120 laps race.
The day did not start on a good note for the Indian team.
Junior cyclist Himanshi Singh earned second place in the 7.5km scratch race but was later disqualified on grounds of dangerous driving.
She was blocked behind the Malaysian rider and in an attempt to go ahead of the Malaysian and Japanese rider, she made a technical fault and was disqualified by the Commissionaire.
The gold was won by Ci Hui Nyo of Malaysia ahead of Japan's Mizuki Ikeda and Sofiya Karimova of Uzbekistan.
Overall, India is at 5th place with two gold, five silver and 13 bronze medals.
Japan leads the medal tally with 11 golds, six silver and two bronze, while the Koreans are in second position with 10 gold, nine silver, two bronze ahead of Kazakhstan, who have four gold, three silver and a bronze in their kitty.
B
Ronaldo's feat was the best performance by any Indian cyclist in a continental championship. He gave a tough fight to Japan's experienced rider Kento Yamasaki but finished with a silver.
Ronaldo Singh scripted history as he became the first Indian cyclist to win a silver in a continental tournament in the senior category by finishing second in the sprint event on the concluding day of the Asian Track Championship.
Ronaldo's feat was the best performance by any Indian cyclist in a continental championship. He gave a tough fight to Japan's experienced rider Kento Yamasaki but finished with a silver.
Yamasaki defeated Ronaldo in back-to-back races to finish at the top of the podium. Kazakhstan's Andrey Chugay won the bronze in the event.
"This (Ronaldo's silver) was the first silver won by an Indian in Asian Championships. No Indian has won a gold in our history, so his silver winning feat is the best ever performance by an Indian in continental championships," Cycling Federation of India chairman Onkar Singh told PTI.
Singh is also the secretary general of Asian Cycling Confederation.
Ronaldo's silver was his third medal of the championships. He had earlier won bronze medals in 1km time trial and team sprint events.
In the morning, Ronaldo defeated Kazakhstan's Chugay in the semifinal. The Indian lost the first race but bounced back to win the next two to storm into the final.
"Gold was in my mind but I'm also happy with the first-ever silver. This is the best ever performance of my career. In every tournament I improved my technique, this is most important," Ronaldo said.
World junior champion and Asian record holder Ronaldo created a national record in 200m flying time trial by breaching the 10 seconds barrier on way to the semifinals of men's Elite sprint race event.
The home team won one silver and two bronze medals on the final day.
Indian junior cyclist Birjit Yumnam won a bronze in 15km Points Race with 23 points. Korea's Sungyeon Lee won the silver with 24 points while Farrukh Bobosherov of Uzbekistan grabbed the gold.
The big surprise of the day was 19-year-old Chayanika Gogoi, who opened the Indian tally with a bronze over Kazakhstan's medal favourite Rinata Sultanova in 10km Women Scratch Race finals. Youri Kim won the gold while Kie Furuyama of Japan clinched the silver.
The Asian Junior and Para championships were also being held simultaneously at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium veledrome.
There were a handful of crashes on the final day which saw 10 finals.
Japan topped the combined medal tally with 18 gold, seven silver and two bronze.
In the world class field, the Indian cycling team finished fifth with 23 medals (2 Gold, 6 Silver, 15 Bronze).
Korea finished second with 12 gold, 14 silver and three bronze medals while Kazakhstan secured third place with four gold, four silver and three bronze.
