Big guns dominate as PhilCycling, Tagaytay get into hosting groove

TAGAYTAY City—The big guns from elite cycling countries didn’t disappoint as the country’s first-time hosting of the Asian Cycling Confederation (ACC) Track and Para Track Championships got into the groove after two days of intense action at the Tagaytay CT Velodrome. Olympian Eiya Hashimoto of Japan topped the men’s elite elimination race and Sze Wing Lee of Hong Kong dominated the women's race late Thursday, March 26, in the championships organized by the ACC, hosted by the PhilCycling and Tagaytay City and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission. Hashimoto showed he doesn’t only have the speed but the endurance as well in ruling the 14-cyclist men elite elimination race that included returning Mark Julius Bonzo, who held fort and exited at No. 11 in one of most interesting events in track cycling. A three-time Asian Games gold medalist and 14 times winner of the Asian championships winner, Hashimoto later had good words for both the Filipino cyclists and organizers. "The Philippine team looks good," Hashimoto, 32, said in halting English. "With the right environment and continued development, especially in the early stages of track cycling and rider development. I'm really looking forward to seeing the Philippine riders improve next year.” China’s Junjie Wu secured the silver medal, while Uzbekistan’s Nikita Tsvetkov took the bronze in the elimination race of the championships supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, MVP Sports Foundation, Sports Plus PH, Toyota and Peak. Bonzo, 36 and a former road national cyclist, stood his ground and was eliminated ahead of more experienced rivals Joe Lau of Malaysia, Harshveer Singh Sekhon of India and Manssour Ameen Alhayyan of Saudi Arabia. Chinese-Taipei’s Sze Wing Lee showcased her strength and endurance to beat China’s Ning Chen and Japan’s Misaki Okamoto for the gold medal in the women elite elimination race. Angeline...