Indian cyclists begin their quest to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics on their own backyard with the Asian Track Cycling Championships 2022 set to be held at the Indoor Cycling Velodrome at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in New Delhi from June 18 to 22. The 41st edition of the big-ticket continental event will be held along with the junior and para championships. It was to be held in February but was postponed due to the COVID-19. The Asian Track Cycling Championships is an UCI (world cyc

Around 500 cyclists from 20 countries were initially poised to participate at the New Delhi meet but following several withdrawals, cyclists from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Turkmenistan, UAE and Uzbekistan will now compete. India will be fielding a 36-member strong team for the Asian Track Cycling Championships 2022. Eight athletes will be part of the para event. The Asian Track Cycling Championships 2022 will see Indian cyclists compete in an international event for the first time in almost two years due to the pandemic. Junior world No. 1 Ronaldo Singh and veteran Esow Alben will be some of the big names to watch out for from the Indian team for the sprint events. Junior champion Mayuri Lute and Trishya Paul will be India’s top picks in the women’s sections with veteran Deborah Herold missing from the team. In endurance events, Viswajit Singh will carry India’s hopes. David Beckham, Vishwajeet, Meenakshi and youngsters like Aashirwad Saxena, Gurnoor Poonia, Srimathi J and Sadnya Kotake are also in the Indian squad. Korea, Malaysia, Japan and Kazakhstan will be the strongest teams at the competition.