Indian cyclists confident of making a winning start in the Track Asia Cup 2015 tomorrow

Points garnered at the event will help in Olympic qualification

On 18 Nov 2015 starts one of the real highlights of the International Track Cycling season. The second edition of Track Asia cup is all set to kick off at the Indoor Cycling Velodrome at IG Sports Complex in New Delhi from tomorrow.

Today early morning all the teams practiced very hard and they were happy to see the facilities in the Velodrome. The professional cyclists from Continental Team Astana said “The track is world class and these type of tracks really help them to earn more and more points. These points will help us to qualify for Olympic and World Championship. We are very optimistic that we will qualify here for Olympics.”

The 20 member Indian team is fully prepared for the three-day event. Tsunami survivor Deborah who will lead India’s challenge in the Track Asia Cup is confident of a winning start in the front of home crowd. She will start her campaign with Time Trial and Team Spirit events while she will take part in Keirin and Sprint also in further days.

The 20-year-old Deborah Herold who recently created history by winning five medals including a gold, three silver and one bronze medal at the Taiwan Cup Track International Classic event said “I am fully prepared to put up a good show and aim to finish on the top which will give me an opportunity to further qualify for some major international events. I am using this event to further improve my timing and chance to earn more points. Deborah’s favourite events are 200m sprint and keirin. I am expecting a strong competition from Korean team in my event category but I am ready to give tough time”.

In the men’s category, Sahil is expected to get a close contest from Uzbekistan, while overall Kazakhstan is the toughest team in the event. On the opening day, cyclists from different countries will compete in the point race, team persuit and Keiren category.

Mr. R.K. Sharma, Coach Indian Team said, we are very hopeful to bring laurels to the country and our cyclists will also be benefitted in the home crowd. He said the track in the Stadium is world class and our cyclists are ready to give their personal best. Mr. R.K. Sharma, Class-I certified UCI Coach was an Ex-HR Manager in Air Force but quit the job to see the tricolor on the top and now he is training full time to Indian cyclists.

The event will see total participation of thirteen teams from 10 countries including one continental team i.e. Team ASTANA has also made important entry. The ten countries are Kazakhstan, Hong Kong, Korea, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Iran, UAE, Nepal and India alongwith academy teams SAINCA and CFI. More than 150 cyclists from different countries will compete in this event for the top honours. All the teams had their training sessions today.