The 2018 edition of the OCBC Cycle Speedway South East Asia (SEA) Championships saw plenty of drama and suspense, as Team Myanmar emerged victorious in a talent packed final.
Click here to view the OCBC Cycle Speedway Club and SEA Championships photos.
Despite finishing behind the more highly favoured teams from the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore who had also featured in the finals, Team Myanmar’s cyclists rode an inch perfect race and climbed to the top of the final standings after the other teams were penalised for infringements at the changeover.
Said Aung Myo Naing, 35, team manager and coach of Myanmar, “It is an amazing feeling to have won our first title. We did not expect to win today as the other teams have better sprinters than us. But thankfully we had a clean changeover in the transit area. Every year we try and get better and we have been training for three months for this. Our previous best result was a fourth place finish in 2015.”
He added, “Now that we have this title in the bag, our next goal is to win the gold medal in the upcoming 2019 SEA Games.”
During the final, the breakaway riders from renowned regional sprinters Thailand and the Philippines had exchanged early attacks with Singapore managing to stay close behind. After launching into the sprints at breakneck speed, the lead riders for Thailand, Philippines and Singapore managed to stretch their lead by more than half a lap as riders from the chasing pack executed a patient game plan with each other.
The plucky riders from Myanmar had managed to stay within sight of the chasing pack but were unable to mount a serious challenge on the leaders.
However the changeover saw a flurry of activity as riders from the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore were judged to have made infringements during the dismount and mounting of their bicycles.
This had resulted in a ten second penalty for both Philippines and Thailand and a 20 second penalty for Singapore, for two transgressions.
Myanmar had finished closely behind the other three teams with a timing of 20:40.317 minutes, good enough to overhaul there first finisher Philippines’ pre penalty finish timing of 20:39.680 minutes, to earn their maiden OCBC Cycle Speedway SEA Championship title.
The Philippines, understandably, were disappointed by the turn of events because the penalty meant that they were relegated to second spot.
Said Cris Largo, team captain of the Philippines, “I am disappointed as we were expecting to come in first in the race. One of our riders dismounted wrongly and we were penalised for it. However I am very happy with this experience as it is my first time racing in Singapore and in a relay format.”
Added his team mate Jan Paul Morales, 32, “But this Speedway format is more unique compared to traditional racing because you have to be able to plan very well. You need to plan very well and put someone at the end to out sprint everyone. So it all comes down to tactics.”
Finishing in third was Thailand. Said Wisut Kasiyaphat, team manager of Thailand, “My team did very well and better than expected. It was a good race for us, despite three teams making mistakes in the final this year. One of our riders rode too fast, causing him to pass the dismount line and was unfortunately penalised, but we all tried our best.”
Singapore however, were still encouraged by their performance despite the disappointing turn of event as this had resulted in a eventual fourth position for them.
Said Singapore anchor cyclist Calvin Sim, 29, “Overall I think that we did the best we could and we showed that Singapore can be up there with the South East Asian nations. We will go back and see what we can improve and aim for the top spot next year.”
He added, “Our strategy was to follow the first pair. We wanted to follow and make sure that we did not leave gaps, then when the other teams attack, we make our move. But it did not turn out that way because everyone was marking each other so tightly so there was no chance to run away. The finish was really close; but then again it’s the same as running. If someone gets their nose in front by a little margin, then he will win.”
Sim also added that he thinks the unique format of the Speedway championships is quite interesting, nonetheless. He said, “It is a very unique format and very spectator friendly so families can hang out and support the cyclists.”
He continued, “But being a purist myself, though, I would prefer the traditional cycling format because you can see more teamwork there as you can see teams lining up and bringing their sprinters to the line. Here, there are only two riders at a time, so it’s a bit hard to see.”
In the qualifying rounds, a shock exit by two time champions Malaysia had set the tone for the rest of the OCBC Cycle Speedway SEA Championships and then in the semi final rounds, Singapore had edged out their competitors Myanmar, Thailand, the Philippines and Laos to be the first placed qualifier, thus setting the stage for a nail biting finale.
Club Championships
And in the OCBC Cycle Speedway Club Championships, the Specialized Roval Mavericks successfully reclaimed their title as the best cycling club in Singapore, with a dominant display in the final.
The lead rider of the Mavericks Team 1 had established an unassailable lead early on, after the changeover. Never breaking his stride, the rider eased over the finish line.
But it was up to his anchor rider to stay close to the peloton before launching into a sprint in the final laps. This proved to be difficult as the riders of Allied World Kemp Technologies and MatadorRACING weaved in and out on the circuit, each taking turns to lead.
In the end though, Mavericks clinched the win, stopping the clock at 18:12.793 minutes, narrowly edging out Allied World and MatadorRACING.
Said Bastian Dohling of Specialized Mavericks Team 1, “It feels terrific to win this year’s OCBC Cycle Speedway Club Championship, especially having trained intensively for the past year. We have been riding every two weeks leading up to today’s race and had two Mavericks teams in the finals, which had put the club in a great position.”
Added his team mate, Ben Arnott, 47, “We are so happy. Last year we got to the final but did not get the win. So to get one back and get the win, we are really pleased. Though we were lucky to have had two teams in the final, you still never know with the Speedway because this is a type of competition that comes down to very small winning margins and a sprint at the end, so anyone can still win.”
Continued Arnott, “This is becoming an established race on the cycling calendar so to win it is really excellent for our club.”
However Arnott admitted that his club strategy did not exactly play out as planned despite their team’s victory. He explained, “Though we had two teams in the final, we had one rider from each team in the front. That was a bit unclear whether that gave us an advantage or not. But then one of our other riders closed the gap so we then had two lead riders up front and that really helped. But it still came to a sprint to the finish because the second group of riders were still bunched up together.
Continued Arnott, “We also had to be careful not to give away any penalties for infringement, of course, but our practice on this circuit in the past few weeks really paid off and we had good team effort as well.”
In fact, the Mavericks are already looking at resuming training to retain their title next year. Said Dohling, “We’ve already identified some areas of improvement and the road to next year’s OCBC Cycle Speedway Club Championships starts tomorrow!”
Third placed team MatadorRACING are also pleased with their results too. Said rider Daniel Smith, “Our team was racing in Thailand last week so we did not have time to look at the course till two days ago. In fact, most of us rode this course for the first time this morning. We encountered many difficulties since most of us are climbers instead of sprinters.”
He added, “It was a tough race for us, but we really enjoyed the event and had good fun taking part with all the other teams. We look forward to improving in next year’s OCBC Cycle Speedway Club Championships and seeing more exciting cycling events in South East Asia in the coming year.”
And concurred Adam Nelson from Allied World Kemp Technologies, “The OCBC Cycle Club Speedway Championships is one of the highlights in the racing calendar for Singapore. It is great to have such support from OCBC Bank, the Singapore Cycling Federation and the government, in promoting cycling. Over the past few years, we are seeing more events and opportunities for people to get into cycling and that is very encouraging for us as a team.”
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