Kerala made a clean sweep of the medals in the 10km elite women’s scratch race on the opening day of the track events in the cycling competitions of the 35th National Games here on Tuesday.
After a disappointing show in the road events, the Kerala girls made amends on the track as Mahitha Mohan, V.R. Rajani and S. Bismi made it a 1-2-3 for the host in a highly tactful and dramatic race.
Earlier, Services’ Satbir Singh pipped Tamil Nadu’s C. Rajesh to clinch the gold in the elite men’s 15km scratch race while favourite Pankaj Kumar of Haryana finished third in a close contest.
It was victory for team work as the trio from Kerala paced the race to perfection to diffuse the threat from the Manipur and Punjab cyclists. The race began at a slow pace with none of the cyclists willing to take the initiative.
Warning issuedThe cat and mouse game went a bit too far and all the cyclists were issued a warning for slow pace and the chief commissioner even threatened to restart the race. In the meantime, Mahitha Mohan was issued a warning for dangerous riding as she nearly collided with Bidyaluxmi Devi who was trying to take the lead from the outer track.
The warning had the desired effect on the riders and the pace picked up with Yashodhara Sherker of Maharashtra taking the role of pace setter.
Tamil Nadu’s Manisha was in the lead for a while and the lead changed hands a few times. But, throughout the race the three riders from Kerala didn’t allow things to drift as they stayed within striking distance of the lead cyclists.
Midway through the 28th lap, Mahitha and Rejani made their move and hit the front followed by Bismi. Mahita sprinted ahead of Rejani at the finish to take the gold while Bismi came in third.
“I was not perturbed by the warning I got. We were a bit wary about Manipur and Punjab and so we decided to play the waiting game. I am happy I was able to win the gold in front of my home crowd,” said Mahitha.
The pace was furious in the men’s race but Satbir and Pankaj stayed with the leader pack. C. Rajesh worked his way up from the rear to catch up with the leaders.
At the bell, Satbir took off followed by Pankaj and Rajesh in hot pursuit. Satbir managed to hang on while Rajesh edged out Pankaj for the silver.
The results:
Men: 15km scratch race: 1. Satbir Singh (SSCB) (21:31.514), 2. C. Rajesh (TN) (21:31.548), 3. Pankaj Kumar (Har) (21:31.842).
Women: 10km scratch race: 1. Mahitha Mohan (Ker) (20:15.097), 2. V. Rejani (Ker) (20:15.234), 3. S. Bismi (Ker) (20:16.941).
