Asian Track Cycling Championships 2024: India’s elite cyclists draw blank
A 22-member Indian elite squad competed in track cycling events in New Delhi. Meenakshi clocked the national record in the women’s pursuit to finish fourth.
Indian cyclists ended the Asian Track Cycling Championships 2024 at Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in New Delhi without a medal. The competition started on February 21 and concluded on Wednesday.
The 43rd edition of the Asian Track Cycling Championships was also the final qualifying event for the Paris 2024 Olympics. A total of 22 elite Indian cyclists, led by Ronaldo Singh, David Beckham, Esow Alben and Rojit Singh, competed for ranking points for the Summer Games.
However, Indian cyclists failed to replicate the success they achieved in the 2022 edition, also held in New Delhi. India won nine medals - one silver and eight bronze - in 2022 for their best-ever finish at the continental meet.
Meenakshi, competing in the women’s pursuit, narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing fourth with a timing of 1:18.154. She lost the bronze medal race to Kazakhstan’s Rinata Sultanova.
Earlier in the qualifying round, however, Meenakshi clocked a national record time of 3:42.515 across two races to make the bronze medal round.
Ronaldo Singh, who won a silver medal in the 1km individual time trial at the 2023 edition held in Malaysia with a national record, clocked 1:02.617 to finish fifth this year.
Ronaldo Singh also competed in the sprint event but did not qualify for the round of 16. At the 2022 edition, Ronaldo Singh won India’s first silver medal at the Asian Championships in the individual sprint. David Beckham, part of the bronze medal-winning Indian men’s sprint team two years ago, bowed out in the round of 16.
Around 500 riders from 18 countries competed at the New Delhi meet, which also saw competitions in the junior and para track cycling categories.
While the elite contingent disappointed, India’s 20-member junior and para teams enjoyed a good outing, securing 18 medals - nine gold, six silver and three bronze.
Of these, eight gold medals and four silvers were won by para-cyclists. Sarita Kumari, Niya Sebastian, Sabina Kumari and Zaina Mohammed Ali Pirkhan won India’s other gold medal, clocking 53.383s in the junior women’s team sprint.
On the final day, India’s Harshita Jakhar won the bronze medal in the women’s junior madison category. Earlier, she won the silver medal in the individual pursuit and the bronze medal in the team pursuit.