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This is an archive article published on March 8, 2013
Deborah bronze opens Indias account
Andaman cyclist recovers from false start to win medal at Asian Cycling Championships
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Deborah bronze opens Indias account
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Upcoming Andaman cyclist Deborah recovered from a false start to bag India’s first medal in the Asian Cycling Championships on Thursday at the IG Velodrome. The 19-year old won bronze in the Junior category of the 500m time trial after clocking 37.841s in the finals,marginally behind Korea’s Yeonhee Jang 37.159s and Yu Shiou Chenh of Chinese Taipei 37.834s.
For coach Rumi Chatterjee,the success was unprecedented. “I think this is the first time an Indian has won a medal in the Asian Junior Championships since 1985. So it is an exceptional achievement,” she said. But while she was delighted with the achievement,Chatterjee rued the false start that ruled out a “sure shot gold opportunity.” The culprit,she claimed,was the electronic starting gate in use for the tournament.
While the gates had been used for the 2010 Commonwealth Games,they had been on hire. Subsequently cycles had been released by hand as recently as the Nationals held last December. “We had last used the starting gate during the Commonwealth Games. And while we again got the gates a couple of days ago,we didn’t have enough practice ahead of Deborah’s race here. Till now we had been releasing the cycle manually. During Deborah’s first run,the gate opened early and she false start ed. But because it is such a short race two laps of the velodrome a lot of energy had already been wasted,” she said.
The second time,the gate opened perfectly. Deborah kept calm,powering ahead to cheers from the small crowd. “I went blank initially. I told myself to be calm as I had to start immediately. After the first lap I knew I was in with a chance to finish on the podium. I am happy I lived up to the expectations,” said Deborah. The feeling has yet to sink in, she added.
India have a chance to add to their medal tally on Friday,with 16-year-old Jashanjeet Kaur making it to the bronze medal match in the 2km individual pursuit event. The Patiala cyclist will take on Kazakhstan’s Yekaterina Yuraitis in the third position duel.
Velodrome disappointing
When he first saw the Delhi cycling velodrome during the 2010 Commonwealth Games,Asian Cycling Confederation ACC chief Hee Wok Cho had praised the venue as world class. Returning to the venue two years later,Cho wasn’t as impressed. “”The maintenance of the velodrome is disappointing. I am not happy with it,” Cho said,through a translator. While not singling out anything about the wooden track,which appeared to have a few discoloured marks,Cho pointed out the non-functioning electronic display at one end of the venue. “I have conveyed this to the Cycling Federation of India CFI,” he added.
Patel,Vettori regret bar fracas
Dunedin: Former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori and bowler Jeetan Patel apologised for going on a drinking session which left Patel injured and unable to take the field against England. New Zealand Cricket NZC said the pairs behaviour during the incident,which took place after the first day of a New Zealand XI warm-up match in Queenstown ,was completely unacceptable. NZC understands that Jeetan Patel was refused entry to a bar, it said in a statement. He subsequently fell and hit his head.
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