New Delhi: Young Indian cyclist Jashnjeet Kaur narrowly missed out on a podium finish as she lost to Kazakhstan's Yekaterina Yuraitis after leading for most part of the race in 2km individual pursuit event in the Hero Asian Cycling Championships here on Friday. Jashnjeet recorded her personal best of 2:41.024 to finish fourth while Yuraitis completed the race in 2:40.395 on the second day of the Championships.
The 16-year-old Indian, who had clocked 2:43.220 to finish fourth in the qualification round, was quick to get off the block in the eight-lap race, as compared to her Kazakh opponent. At the end of 1000 metres, Jashnjeet (1:20.686) was having a slim lead over Yuraitis who finished the same distance in 1:20.851.
However, it was in the final two lapses that Yuraitis put in some hard pedals and gained impetus. The Kazakh then maintained her wafer-thin lead to sneak past the local favourite.
In her first international competition, Jashnjeet seemed content with her performance at the Asian Championship.
"I was leading until the sixth lap. I think she was too good for me. Though, I am disappointed that I could not finish on the podium. I am happy with my performance. With more practice, I am confident on improving my timing," the girl from Patiala said.
The gold medal went to Hong Kong's Yao Pang (2:34.534) while the silver was won by Yi Ju Lin (2:39.880) of Chinese Taipei. Jashnjeet will have a chance to avenge her loss when her team takes on the Kazakhs in the 4km team pursuit event to be held on March 11. The Indian team that included Deborah, N Geeturaj and Bidhyalaxmi Devi apart from Jashjeet clocked (5:18.925) to set up a bronze medal clash against Kazakhstan that has Yekaterina in their ranks.
Meanwhile, Amarjeet Singh and Alan Baby advanced to the quarterfinals of 200m sprint in elite and junior categories respectively on a mixed day for the Indians.
Earlier, the Indian cyclists started the day on a disappointing note as the quartet of Shahbaaz Singh, Harpreet Singh, Amit Kumar and Deepak Kumar finished seventh in the qualification round of the men's 4km team pursuit. The team of Mahita Mohan, Sunita Devi, Rekha Rani and Anjana M S also failed to clear the first hurdle after they finished seventh in the women's category of the same event.
In the 30km point race, India's Atul Kumar failed to finish the race after he retreated from the track in the 30th lap.
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