NAYPYIDAW (Myanmar): The India team underlined their supremacy in the Asian Para-Cycling Championships by posting three podium finishes, here at the Wunna Theikdi Sport Stadium here in Naypyidaw, Myanmar on Friday.
Last year silver medalist and Bangalore resident Divij Shah led India’s charge in the para-cycling category winning yet another silver medal, while BSF soldier Harinder Singh bagged the bronze. Harinder had won a bronze medal in last year’s edition as well.
New entrant Madhu Bagri, meanwhile won the bronze in the hand-cycling, a category where India made a maiden participation and Bagri become the first Para Cyclist to win an international medal in Hand Cycling. She is a former national wheelchair national tennis champion and shifted her focus recently to para-cycling after coach Aditya Mehta encouraged her to switch sports and try hand in hand cycling in mid 2017.
“It is a matter of immense pride for me and the whole contingent to have once again made the country proud at the continental championship. The rich haul of medal here in Myanmar not only shows our zeal to become a power-house in the field of para-cycling but allows us to show our mettle to the world,” Divij Shah, who had started off as an armature cyclists to beat the Bangalore traffic said after the podium ceremony.
Aditya Mehta and the AMF Foundation has been the tirelessly working with these athletes and was delighted at their feat and felt that it will only make the athletes more focused and drive them to achieve greater heights.
“I would like to congratulate all the winners. Their achievement once again proves that India is fast becoming a force to reckon in para-cycling. We believe that we are poised for much better things in the future,” Aditya Mehta said from Myanmar.
Aditya has been the guiding light for these athletes as Aditya Mehta Foundation (AMF) had been working to train and support Para Sports in India with able support under the aegis of Cycling Federation of India (CFI) as they have been working to promote Para Cycling here in India.
Source : timesofindia
