Bidyalaxmi, Sanu bag gold medals; Kerala retain title

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: T Bidyalaxmi Devi of Railways and P Sanu Raj of Services won the gold in the 3000m individual pursuit in the elite women's event and elite men's keirin race on the final day of the 69th Senior, 46th Junior and 32nd Sub-Junior National Track Cycling Championships at LNCPE velodrome, Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.
Kerala retained the overall championship for the eight time garnering 91 points.
Bidyalaxmi clocked 4:22.602 minutes for the gold while Manipuri RK Abe Devi took the silver with 4:20.551 minutes and favourite Amritha Reghunath G of hosts Kerala got the bronze medal with a time of 4:22.752 minutes.
Sanu making his debut in senior nationals bagged his second gold when he won the elite men's kerin race clocking 2:06.001 minutes. Emerson of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Sachin Desai of Maharashtra won the silver and bronze medals.
Sanu added another gold medal when Services team including Ranjith Singh and Deepak Mehta won the elite men's team sprint event in new national record time of 1.05.969 minutes. The old record was 1:06.259 minutes set by Punjab in 2015. Railways (1:06.407s) and Haryana (1:07.173s) went home with silver and bronze medals.
Sanu was selected as the best cyclist in the men's category while Deborah was named best rider in women's category.
In the grueling elite women's 20km point race Panna Chaudhary and in elite men's 30km point race Satbir Singh of Services emerged champions.
Five more national records were set on the final day in team sprint events.
Kerala added two more gold medals both in record when elite women comprising Kezia Varghes and captain Rejani V won the team sprint clocking 50.505s improving own record of 50.505s. Deborah and Martha of Andaman & Nicobar Islands (51.720s) were forced to content with silver while Railways riders T Monorama and Bidyaluxmi (53.083s) took bronze.
Nayana Rajesh and Aleena Reji won the second gold for Kerala in the girls U-16 team sprint also in record time.
Maharashtra cyclists fetched two gold in team sprint event in boys U-16 and girls U-16 categories.
Other results (records only):
BOYS U-18 Team Sprint:A&N 1:06.409 NMR (Arkaprava Baul, Emerson, Essaw) OR 1:09.481 Kerala in 2015), Maharashtra 1:07.476s (Sachin Desai, Mayur Pawar, Abhishek Kashid), Punjab 1:10.712 (Sahil, Sandeep Kumar, Amandeep Kamboj), U-16 team sprint: Maharashtra 1:09.156 (Abhishek Kashid, Mayur, Vinay), A&N 1:09.578 (Ankit Bilong, Boby Thappa, F Bhaskar), Manipur 1:09.120 (Y Rojit Singh, Elangbam, Ronaldo Laitonjam) all betters national record, OR 1:10.388s by Maharashtra in 2015; GIRLS U-18 team sprint: Kerala 49.898s NMR (Nayana Rajesh P, Aleena Reji) OR 52.964s by Kerala in 2015, Maharashtra 50.553s(Shushikala Agashe, Mayuri Lute), Assam 53.063s (Anu Chutia, Joyshree Gogoi)U-16 team sprint: Maharashtra 52.213s NMR (Pallavi Dhanwade, Mayuri Lute), Assam 53.752s (Bristi Kong Kona, Joyshree Gogoi), Kerala 54.854s (Kalyani KJ, Nichitha Lal)
Overall: Kerala 91, Maharashtra 56, A&N 54, Railways 49, Services 43, Karnataka 40, Manipur 38, Rajashthan 21.
Best Cyclists
Men: P Sanu Raj (Services, 13 points)
Women: Deborah (A&N 10 points)