India win bronze on opening day of Asian Track Cycling

India opened their account in the Asian Track Cycling Championships with a bronze medal in the junior women's team sprint event on the opening day of the competitions here on Monday. The Indian duo of Shushikala Agashe and Aleena Reji bagged the third spot after beating Korea in the third-fourth place race at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium velodrome here.The home team clocked 36.677 seconds while the Korea pair of Jeong Seolhwa and Ha Jieun clocked 36.735 s.

China then beat Chinese Taipei in the race for first and second places as the two teams clocked 35.819 seconds and 36.623 seconds respectively. In the qualification round, the Indian women's junior sprint team had finished third with a time of 36.743 seconds. "We are proud to have won a medal for the country, but we are a bit disappointed as we could have done better and finished second in the qualification. That would have given us a chance to go for the gold or at least we would have won a silver," Aleena Reji said.