By Jean Malanum
MANILA – China dominated the Keirin event while Japan registered its first victory in the Asian Cycling Confederation (ACC) Track Championships at the Tagaytay CT Velodrome in Cavite Thursday.
Yuan Liying topped the women’s elite keirin while compatriot Wang Lijuan and Japanese Haruka Nakazawa placed second and third, respectively.
Early this month, Yuan and Wang won the team sprint title with Lou Xuehuang at the UCI Track World Cup Round 1 in Perth, Australia.
China also ruled the men’s elite keirin, with Xie Han winning the gold medal over compatriot Li Zhiwei and Chinese Taipei’s Kang Shih Feng.
China now has seven gold medals, including five from the men’s and women’s elite team sprint, men’s and women’s team pursuit, and men’s junior team pursuit on opening day.
Meanwhile, Eiya Hashimoto triumphed in the men’s elite elimination race to give Japan its first medal in the 16-nation championships that the Philippines is hosting for the first time in 31 years.
Hashimoto, winner of men’s omnium gold medal at the 2014 Asian Games, prevailed over China’s Wu Junjie and Uzbekistan’s Nikita Tsvetkov.
“The training has been good. We had good training in Japan, and also good training in the Philippines. We also did some training on the track outside. It’s been nice,” Hashimoto said.
Other winners were Chinese-Taipei’s Lin Yi Kuan (men’s junior sprint), Korea’s Park Hyerin (women’s junior sprint) and Hong Kong’s Lee Sze Wing (women’s elite elimination race). (PNA)
