walter.alibey@guardian.co.tt
Kwesi Browne just missed out on the opportunity to advance in the keirin event at yesterday's second day of the UCI Cycling World Cup in Berlin, Germany.
Riding out of heat one, the T&T rider finished second behind the winner, Ukrainian Andrii Vynokurov, but still it was not enough for him to qualify. Browne later contested a repechage, needing to finish first to qualify as the fastest loser, but finished as the second best rider for a second time on the day.
The Ukrainian returned a time of 10.217 to be the lone qualifier in the heat which comprised Japan's Kazunari Watanabe and Vasiijus Lendel of Lituania in third and fourth respectively.
Browne's disappointment on the tracks yesterday followed the sprint team's 10th place finish the day before, which saw them failing to advance. The team comprised Olympian Njisane Phillip in the first leg, Nicholas Paul in the second and Browne on the third.
Browne will now sit and watch as his teammates Paul and Phillip enter action in the sprints today. Jason Kenny the Great Britain sprint ace will be among the first to take the track in search of a quick time to qualify for the match sprint later in the day. Phillip ranked at 321 will be the first TT rider to take the track, hoping to reproduce his performance at the 2012 London, England Olympic that earned him a fourth position in the match sprint overall.
Paul, T&T's rising taken is scheduled to take the tracks soon after his countryman, ranked at 320.