Indian cyclists blame the starting machine behind defeat

Wed, Oct 06 10 08:52 PM

New Delhi, Oct 6 (PTI) India lost the best chance of earning a bronze medal in the team sprint category in women''s event by a second and Indian cyclists are blaming the starting machine for their defeat. The fight for the bronze medal was between India and Canada and Indian cyclists faced trouble at the beginning of the race which cost them the second they needed to win. Indian cyclists and spearhead Rameshwori Devi minced no words when she insisted had they been practising with the starting machine, bronze could have belonged to them. "We have never trained on a starting machine. We have may be once practised on it in Sydney in March this year. It has been seven months since that one practise," said the cyclist. Rejni Kumari was the cyclist who faced difficulties with the machine and she said they are not used to the machine and wasted the precious second getting free of the machine. "We''re not used to the machines. In Patiala where we were practising we did not have the machine. Someone would hold the rear wheel and release it at the end of the countdown," said Rejni. "If we were used to the machine maybe then... If we get set on it then it would be good," said Rameshwori. "There wasn''t much difference in the timings. Before we could get out of that machine, they (Canadians) left. That was the difference," said Rejni. A disappointed Romeshwori said they were hoping for atleast one medal but it could not be. "I had the finals (Team Sprint), so I left it in between. I did not concentrate on 25 km point race," said Rejni when asked her reason for not finishing the race. In the evening session, Indian cyclist Mahita Mohan remained sole woman cyclist to qualify for the Round 1 of the Sprint while men face defeat in Sprint race.

Source: Published>