TIL Desk Sports/ Indians failed to win any medal with top cyclist Deborah Herold crashing out at the pre-quarterfinal stage on the third day of competitions in the Saksham Asian Track Cycling Championships . Deborah lost out to Jun Hong Lin of China in Women’s Elite Sprint event pre-quarterfinals.
The Indian held onto her position till the second last lap, and tried her best to chase Lin, but her efforts went in vain in the end. The Andaman and Nicobar cyclist had finished fourth in her favourite 500m time trial event yesterday. National coach R K Sharma said the home team was still hoping for a medal from Deborah in the Women’s elite keirin event to be held on the last day of the championships on Friday.
“Deborah has just graduated to the senior ranks, and it takes at least 5-6 years to reach the very best in the elite category. As per her training, she has performed superbly,” Sharma said. Kerala girl Aleena Reji, India’s lone medallist in the championship with two bronze, also lost her quarterfinal race in the women’s Junior sprint event to Seolhwa Jeong of Korea at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium velodrome.