Esow Alban, a top Indian cyclist, qualified for the men’s keirin semifinals on Thursday at the ongoing 2022 Cycling Track World Championships in Saint Quentin, France.
After placing third in heat 2 of the quarterfinals earlier, he accomplished the feat. The 21-year-old also made history by becoming the first Indian to advance to any event’s semifinals at the Track World Championships.
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After placing fifth in his heat in the first round, Alban faced an early exit, but a much-improved showing in the first-round rematch and a second-place result allowed the Indian to advance to the quarterfinals. The former junior world number one will compete in the semifinals.
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Along with Melvin Landerneu of France, Kohei Terasaki of Japan, Sergey Ponomaryov of Kazakhstan, Firdaus Sahrom of Malaysia, and Harrie Lavreysen of the Netherlands, he is drawn in Heat 1 of the semifinals.
Sports Authority of India on Friday took to their Twitter handle to tweet, “Track cyclist @esowalban creates history by becoming st Indian ever to reach Semifinals of any event of Track Cycling World Championships. He finished 12th after missing out on the Final 6 spots by 0.005sec during his SF race! Well Done Esow & all the best for the future!”
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