India finish on top in Track Asia Cup
NEWDELHI: TEENAGE cycling sensations Esow Alben and L Ronaldo Singh won gold medals in their respective events on the third and final day of the Track Asia Cup here to help India finish in pole position as the hosts topped the tally with 10 gold, eight silver and seven bronze medals.
The Indian contingent clinched three medals—two gold and a bronze—on Wednesday as Uzbekistan finished second with four gold and three silver medals while Malaysia secured third place with four gold and one silver at the Cycling Velodrome in the Indira Gandhi Indoor Sports Complex.
Ronaldo won his fourth gold medal of the tournament when he came from behind to win the men’s junior keirin final. Kazakh riders Arlanbek and Alexandr Safarov took home silver and bronze respectively.
“This is the best ever performance of my career and in every event I improved my timing, which is most important,” said the Manipuri, who had also won three gold medals in sprint, 1km time trial and team sprint in the last two days. The 17-year-old also created a new Asian record for the men’s junior 200m time trial on Tuesday.
World junior No 1 Esow later won the men’s elite keirin gold quite comfortably as Thai rider Worayut Kapunya clinched the silver while Amarjeet Singh added a bronze to India’s tally.
Deborah and Mayuri Lute had a disappointing outing in women’s elite keirin as they failed to qualify for the final.
The podium spots were taken by Malaysian Fatehah (gold), Indonesian Crismontia (silver) and Hong Kong’s Cho Yiu (bronze).
The Indian team will next take part in the Asian Track Championship in South Korea from October 17 to 21.