Ronaldo Singh Laitonjam, the World Junior Champion, won the country’s first-ever international medal in the 1km Time Trial event as India had another successful day at the Asian Track Cycling Championship, taking two bronze medals on Day 3.

Birjit Yumnam won the second bronze medal for the hosts, bringing their total to 20 medals at the IGI Stadium.

The day, which included five finals, also saw a major crash, which resulted in a minor injury to the Indian rider involved.

When Malaysia’s Zulhelmi Zainal and India’s Viswajit Singh collided, the riders were preparing for the Men’s Elite 10km Tempo Race, the second event of the Omnium event.

Viswajit had to withdraw from the event due to an injury, but Zulhelmi Zainal got up and finished the race. Zulhelmi finished 8th in the final Omnium standings after completing all four events.

Ronaldo Singh rode his bicycle at 58.254 km/h and clocked 1:01.798 seconds to win bronze in the Men’s Senior 1km Time Trial event. This was his first medal in this event, as well as India’s. Yuta Obara of Japan won gold in 1:01.118s (59.902 km/h), while Malaysia’s Mohammad Fadhil claimed silver in 1:01.639s.

“I came here for the gold but had to be satisfied with bronze, I just repeated my last year’s performance which was not enough for gold. To change the colour of the medal, I have to focus more on my technique,” said Ronaldo.

About his plans for the Olympic Games, Ronaldo said, “I would like to build a team for the Team Sprint event where we have already won a World Junior medal. It would give more exposure to the Indian cycling team, paving the way for versatility in our performance as a nation.”

Birjit Yumnam won India’s second bronze medal in the 10km Scratch race in the Men’s Junior category.

Yumnam pulled away from Kazakhstan’s Ilya Karabutov and Iran’s Amir Ali after 35 laps to finish third in the 40-lap 10km Scratch race in the Men’s Junior category. Hwarang KIM of Korea won gold, with Zulfahmi Aiman of Malaysia finishing second.

Shunsuke Imamura of Japan won the Men’s Elite Omnium title at the Asian Track Cycling Championship 2022. Imamura delivered an outstanding performance, finishing first in all four races (scratch race 10Km, tempo race 10 Km, elimination, points race 25 km).

Mayuri Lute and Sadnya Kotake, both Indian riders, were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Women’s Senior and Junior Sprints, respectively. Mayuri was defeated by Yuka Kobayashi of Japan, while Sadnya was defeated by Azwa Nabila of Malaysia.

“Kobayashi was a tough opponent with good technique, I have to work hard on my technique and power for the upcoming Commonwealth Games,” said Mayuri after losing the event.

Sampath Pasamel of India finished sixth in the Junior Men’s 1km Time Trial event, pedalling at 52.324 km/h and clocking 1:08.801s. Kirill Kurdidi of Kazakhstan won gold with a time of 1:02.840, while Guenwoo KIM of Korea and Minato Nakaishi of Japan took silver and bronze, respectively.

Kazuhei Kimura of Japan won gold in the Para Men’s B Sprint event, while Jakkit Punthong of Thailand took silver.

Rungarun Ratsamee of Thailand won the Women B Para Sprint event with a time of 13.398 seconds.

(Inputs from IANS)