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What's the story?
India's ace cyclist Esow Alben made the nation proud by clinching a gold medal in Men's Keirin at the recently concluded Six Day Berlin Tournament.
The background
Esow Alben is an Indian track cyclist. The 18-year-old from Andaman and Nicobar Islands first came to the spotlight when he won silver in the Keiren event at the 2018 Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Junior Track Cycling World Championships. He was the first Indian to win a medal at an event of such stature.
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Later in 2018, Alben bagged 3 gold medals (one each in Keirin, 200m Time Trial, and Team Sprint events) at the Junior Asian Track Cycling championships that took place in Malaysia.
The talented youngster won three golds again at the 2019 Junior Asian Track Cycling championships that were conducted in Indonesia. This time the medals came in the Keirin, Sprint, and Team Sprint events.
Another remarkable feat of the pocket rocket is winning a historic gold medal alongside Jemsh Singh, Ronaldo Laitonjam, and Rojit Singh in the Men's team sprint event at the 2019 UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships in Germany. To top it, Esow also won a silver and bronze in Individual Men's Sprint and individual Men's Keirin events, respectively.
Esow certainly gave a new identity to Indian cycling with these achievements.
The heart of the Matter
The former World No.1 in Junior Sprint has added another feather to his cap by winning another gold, this time in the individual Keirin event on Day 5 of the Six-Day Berlin Tournament. The top-place finish helped Esow gain 20 classification points.
Esow clocked 12.990 seconds on the clock to win the coveted medal and it was also his personal best in the event. Tomas Babek of the Czech Republic and Germany's Maximilian Lev had to settle for the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
The teenager, who became the first-ever Indian to take part in the six-day extravaganza, had earlier bagged a bronze medal in Keirin on Day 2 and claimed an Individual Keirin silver on Day 4 of the event.
On Day 1, Esow finished fifth in both Sprint and Keirin events but stood sixth in the 250m Flying Time Trial. As a result, he was ranked 6th on the general classification chart with 22 points.
On Day 2, the Indian sensation earned 12 points thanks to a 3rd place finish in Keirin. However, he finished 6th in both Sprint and Time Trial events and thereby added six points each from both the events. He remained at the 6th position on the general classification chart with 46 points overall.
The third day was slightly disappointing again as Esow only managed sixth-place finishes in the Time Trial and Keirin; and the fifth position in Sprint. The youngster added a total of 20 points to his tally and now had 66 points overall.
The fourth day was much better as Esow won Silver in the Keirin event by virtue of which he earned 15 points. However, a sixth-place finish in Time Trial and a fifth-place finish in Sprint ensured that Esow remained in the 6th place on the General Classification chart with a total of 95 points.
The fifth day was undoubtedly the best one for Esow as he won the gold in Men's Keirin, which earned him 20 points. A seventh-place finish in Sprint and a sixth-place finish in Time Trial helped Esow add a total of 10 more points on the day to take his total tally to 125 and finally rise to the fifth spot in General Classification.
Esow produced the goods on the sixth and final day of the Berlin event as well. He finished seventh in Time Trial, fifth in Sprint, but won the Bronze yet again in Keirin to add a total of 24 points to his tally.
Finally, after the conclusion of the six-day cycling extravaganza, Esow finished in sixth place on the General Classification chart with 149 points.
Overall, the Indian prodigy took home 2 bronze, 1 silver, and 1 gold medal from the event in Berlin.
What's next?
Esow continues to inspire many Indian youngsters to take up the sport thanks to his astonishing achievements. His notable performance at the Berlin tournament will give the pocket rocket the much-needed ranking points and held him rise up the rankings.
