Cycling
Cycling Track World C'ships: Esow Alban finishes 12th in Men's Keirin
Esow Alban finished 12th in Men's Keirin at the ongoing 2022 Track World Championships in San Quentin, France.
Ace Indian cyclist Esow Alban finished 12th in Men's Keirin at the ongoing 2022 Track World Championships in San Quentin, France on Thursday. The 21-year-old from Port Blair finished last in the 7-12th place ranking final.
Competing in his first senior world championships, Alban created history when he became the first-ever Indian to qualify for the semifinals of the World Championships earlier in the day.
Esow had a tough start to his campaign and had to rely on the first round repechage to qualify for the quarterfinals. He then finished third in his quarterfinals to book a berth in the 12-member semifinals.
Drawn in the heat one of semifinal, Alban rode brilliantly but missed out on qualifying for the final by 0.066 seconds. The Indian finished fourth behind Japan's Kohei Terasaki, who qualified for the final in the third place in a photo finish and forced Esow Alban to the 7-12th placed ranking final.
The former junior world number 1, started off well in the ranking final. Alban pushed flat out and took a big lead early on, but lost steam towards and finished last to be classified 12th in men's keirin.
