Cyclist Ceci Lee Sze-wing hopes to catch rival Yumi Kajihara after another Asian Track Championships medal
- The 22-year-old Hongkonger adds omnium silver to scratch race bronze in Malaysia on Monday
- City bags six medals in their first Asian Championships since star rider Sarah Lee Wai-sze’s retirement
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Three days after claiming bronze for Hong Kong in the scratch race, Ceci Lee Sze-wing added an omnium silver at the Asian Track Cycling Championships in Malaysia on Monday.
But the double-medal winner is not getting carried away. Instead, she insisted she is determined to catch Japanese rival Yumi Kajihara, who beat her to gold in both events.
Lee finished just four points behind Kajihara in the women’s omnium on Monday, and was well ahead of Taiwan’s Huang Ting-ying, who ended up third.
It was the sixth medal of the championships for Hong Kong, after Mow Ching-yin took bronze in the men’s points race, while Leung Chun-wing and Leung Ka-yu combined to snatch silver in the men’s Madison earlier.
“I performed to my standard and did every move and tactic I planned,” Lee said. “But I felt my differences with Yumi remained there.
“Perhaps we looked close enough judging by the overall scores [158 points to 154], but the difference between my ability and hers during the tempo race was obvious. So there is some catching up to do over the next few months.”
With Kajihara in flying form on the track to claim first place in the first three events of the omnium, 22-year-old Lee finished just behind her in the scratch and elimination, while coming third in the tempo race, behind also Rinata Sultanova of Kazakhstan.
The Hongkonger outscored Kajihara by four in the final points race, but it was not enough to topple the 26-year-old, who has won world gold and Olympic silver in the discipline.
“My condition is good right now, otherwise I would not have done so well in the points race,” said Lee, who finished fourth in the Madison, which was also won by Kajihara and her teammate Tsuyaka Uchino.
“I was pushing hard in the final event and I knew Yumi was struggling a bit too. I hope I can do even better in the points race in the future, but the key to catching Yumi is to improve in my tempo race.”
Three-time Asian Championships medallist Lee, who took an omnium bronze in her first time at the event as an elite rider in South Korea three years ago, insisted she was satisfied with her recent results.
“The two medals this week made me happy because results here matter for the Paris Olympics qualification,” she said. “These championships gave me an overall picture of what to expect at the Asian Games, and I hope I can do well in Hangzhou.
Earlier in the men’s events, reigning Asian Games Madison champion Leung Chun-wing, who had also won a bronze in the elimination race, paired with Leung Ka-yu to win silver at the National Velodrome in Nilai on Sunday.
Separately, Mow Ching-yin joined his teammates at the National Road Championships in Hangzhou after winning bronze in the points race last Saturday.
The former Asian scratch race champion was part of the team alongside Ng Pak-hang, Ko Siu-wai and Chu Tsun-wai, with Vincent Lau Wan-yau taking silver in the men’s individual road race on Monday.
