National-level medallist C. Dinesh won the individual championship in the men category and Pudukottai district won the overall championship in the 60th State-level cycling competition held here from October 22 to 24.
Cyclists from 16 districts participated in ground and road cycling events under different categories, and Pudukottai district won the overall championship with 53 points and Tiruchi finished runner up with 49 points. Ramnad District Cycling Association has hoisted the competition.
It was a sweet revenge for cyclists from Pudukottai, who had lost the overall championship to Tiruchi in the 59th State-level cycling competition. Coimbatore, handicapped with the absence of cyclists in the men category, finished third with 37 points, S. Radhakrishnan, honorary secretary, Tamil Nadu Cycling Association, said. In the individual championship category, Mr. Dinesh, who had won medals in the national-level events, beat others to emerge as Tamil Nadu champion. In the under 18 years category, Sathish Kannan (Pudukottai) and Sri Nivetha (Coimbatore) won the championships in the boys and girls categories respectively.
In the under 16 years, Sakthivel (Pudukottai) and M.C. Pavithra Sri (Coimbatore); and in the under 14 years, N.H. Harish (Coimbatore) and G. Aishwarya (Tiruchi) won the championships in the boys and girls categories respectively, he said.
Addressing the prize distribution ceremony on Sunday, Minister for Information Technology M. Manikandan exhorted the cyclists to be focussed on the sport and work hard to bring laurels to the country. It was matter of regret that “in a country of 120 crore population, we could not win a single gold medal in the Olympics,” he lamented.
“You should love your sport” and make use of the facilities created by the State government, he said. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had announced Rs 2 crore to T. Mariappan who won gold in Rio Paralympics but could not personally hand over the money to him as she was hospitalised, he said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Tamil Nadu / Special Correspondent / Ramanathapuram – October 26th, 2016