Asian Track Cycling: Para-cyclist Jyoti wins gold as Indians excel on Day 2

New Delhi, June 19 (IANS) India bagged a gold, three silver and four bronze medals on the second day of the Asian Track Cycling Championships with the para-cyclist Jyoti Gaderaya winning gold in the Para Women's Individual Pursuit event with Geeta Rao taking silver in a superb 1-2 finish for the hosts.

In all, 12 final races including four finals in para-cycling were held on Day 2 of the 41st Senior, 28th Junior Asian Track & 10th Para Track Cycling Championships.

Sunday's haul of one 1 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze medals took the hosts' overall tally to 18 medals in the competition so far.

In the Women's Junior category, Pooja Danole opened the Indian tally on the second day by adding a bronze medal in the Individual Pursuit. She clocked 2:31.277s to claim the third position and also created a new National Record, improving her old mark of 2:37.410s. The gold medal was awarded to Mizuki Ikeda of Japan, who clocked 49.911s, while Yunyeong Cheon of Korea claimed silver in 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 the courage to win the medals at the international arena," said an elated Pooja.

The biggest heartbreak for India was when the country's No. 1 Esow failed to win a medal in the Keirin event in the Elite Men's 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 hosts when Vishwajit Singh won bronze in Senior Men's Individual Pursuit category. He clocked 9 minutes to complete the 4km race, defeating Kiat Chun Lim of Malaysia, who clocked 10 minutes. In the qualifying round, Vishwajit clocked 4:31.380s and was placed behind his opponent from Malaysia (4:31.130s). But Vishwajit gave his best in the final and won a medal. Gold was won by Shoi Matsuda of Japan and Sanghoon Park of Korea took silver.

In the Men's Junior category, Niraj Kumar lost the 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 went to Seungmin Hong of Korea, who defeated Uzbekistan rider Diyor Takhirov.

Mayuri Dhanraj Lute hogged the limelight after winning the bronze medal in the 500m Time Trial event. This was her second bronze in two days of championships, though 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 finish third. Gold was won by Nurul Izzah Mohd Asri of Malaysia, who reached 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.

Leila Heydariveirani 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 in Junior Women's Category with a timing of 38.033s. Sadnya Kotake bagged a 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 in the Women's Elite category. She clocked 3:50.223s and ranked fifth in the event.

Warishdeep Singh & Luv Kumar Yadav finished 9th & 10th place in the Junior Men's Keirin event, final and David Beckham finished 8th in the Men's Elite Keirin event.

In Para-cycling, Jyoti Gaderaya won gold while teammate Geeta Rao got a silver medal in the Para Women's Individual Pursuit event. They clocked 5:24.990s and 6:12.939s respectively to complete the race.

India added one more bronze medal in the Para Men's 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) and Behrooz Farzad (5:34.339s) clinched gold and silver respectively.