Cyclist finishes at 14th but breaks RP record at Doha

Alfie Catalan finished only 14th in a field of 26 in the men's individual pursuit cycling finals of the 15th Asian Games. But he posted broke a Philippine record, with his clocking of four minutes, 48.275 seconds. Apart from being the best-placed Southeast Asian at the Asphire's state-of-the-art velodrome inside the Sport City, Catalan smashed the four-year old RP record. According to a PhilCycling press release from Doha, Catalan's time smashed the old mark of 4:55.66 set by Ronald Gorantes in the 2002 World Cup in Kunming, China. "It was a good race for Alfie," said head coach Jomel Lorenzo. "He poured everything he got and we are happy about his new Philippine record." Catalan, 26, was paiired with Iraq 's Mihsien Reauf, whom he lapped twice over the 4-kilometer event. The Iraqi clocked 5: 20.480. The individual pursuit is a head-to-head race over 4 kilometers for men and 3 kilometers for the women. In the Asphire velodrome, which is a 250-meter track, this means the men will race for 16 laps while the for the women for 12. Riders start from opposite ends of the track and can win by either catching their opponent, or simply finishing in a faster time. The first round is run against the clock, with the fastest four going through to a knockout competition. Meanwhile, 20-year-old Filipino Jan Paul Morales finished seventh oin a field of 11 in the men's 1-kilometer time trial on Saturday afternoon. Jang Sun Jae, a member of the South Korean team that finished fourth in the men's team time trial of road, submitted the best time of 4: 30.355, followed by Japan 's Taiji Nishtani (4:36.763), Korean Hwang In Hyeok (4:37.76), and Iran 's Mehdi Sohrabi (4:39.265), the silver medallist in the men's road race. - GMANews.TV