Iranians Pourhashhemi and Daryan take centre stage
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Iranian riders took centre stage as Naser Pourhashhemi and Reyhnane Khatooni Daryan won the Men’s and Women’s categories of the Chalai Challenge Off Road Biking Classic held on April 14, from Mulaitivu to Point Pedro, a distance of 75 km.
Pourhashhemi clocked 2 hours 46 minutes 10 seconds, while compatriot Babak Alizadeh finished second 31 seconds later. Singapore’s Junaidi Bin Hashim came third in 2 hours 47 minutes 05 seconds. The top 5 were completed by Indian Kiran Kumar Raju at fourth, ahead of T. Ayaman of Nepal. From the start, the two Iranian riders, Pourhashhemi and Alizadeh led from the front, with Navy riders Gayan Sanjeeva and Sarath Kumara, along with Indian Kiran Kumar Raju, Nepal’s T. Ayaman and Singapore’s Junaidi Bin Hashim giving chase.
In a tussle between the foreign professionals and the local minnows, the experienced pro riders won the day against the inexperienced local riders from the Navy, Air Force, Juniors from Two Wheel CC and a few others from the East and North of Sri Lanka. ‘Around the Pearl’ riders Yasas Hewage and Hussain Shameem came 13th and 19th with timings of 3 hours 16 minutes and 3 hours 30 minutes respectively. In the Women’s category Reyhnane won in a time of 3 hours 29 minutes 01 second, closely followed by her teammate Parastoo Bastideharghani in 3 hours 30 minutes 40 seconds. Nepal’s Bhandari Puspa Kumari came third in 3 hours 30 minutes 43 seconds, followed by Ireland’s Maureen Enderby.
Sri Lanka’s Niramaleswaran Vidushana from Jaffna, was the only contestant to finish among the top 5 in both categories. The Chalai Challenge Off Road Biking Classic was organised by the Wheel for Wheels Foundation in partnership with the Mountain Biking Association of Sri Lanka (MBA), to coincide with Around the Pearl, a cycling tour for a cause, to buy 40,000 wheelchairs for children suffering from cerebral disorder, that will touch the hearts of thousands of people. The Sri Lanka Navy was a co-organiser in this worthy cause. ‘Around the Pearl’ was launched with the participation of world class foreign riders from Iran, Nepal, India and Singapore comprising 10 men and 3 women and 51 local riders.
A total of 64 riders took off from Mulaitivu with the dawn of the National New Year at 6.30 am on a jungle path once used by the Navy for covert operations, when the A9 was not accessible. In scorching heat, the riders braved the many obstacles such as the 1-km sand dune across the Chalai Lagoon, undulated land, broken bridges and jungle trails, with 44 battered riders finishing the course in the battle for the survival of the fittest. The MBA, with Wroom CC leader Yasas Hewage, well supported by his ‘Around the Pearl’ team, did a yeoman service to organise this inaugural exciting event which, barring a few mishaps of broken down Com Bikes, was a resounding success. - SP
Results
Men: (1) Naser Pourhashhemi (Iran) 2.46:10, (2) Babak Alizadeh (Iran) 2.46:41, (3) Junaidi Bin Hashim (Singapore) 2.47:05, (4) Kiran Kumar Raju (India) 2.50:31, (5) T. Ayaman (Nepal) 2.51:38. (6) Venkateshwarlu Reddy (India) 2.52:15, (7) Gayan Sanjeeva (SLNavy) 2.55:26, (8) Sarath Kumara (SLNavy) 2.58:17. (9) Ivan Ten Chin Sen (Singapore) 3.02:02, (10) Amal Suranga (SLAF) 3.04:17.
Women: (1) Reyhnane Khatooni Daryan (Iran) 3.29:01, (2) Parastoo Bastideharghani (Iran) 3.30:40, (3) Bhandari Puspa Kumari (Nepal) 3.30:43, (4) Maureen Enderby (Ireland) 3.34:59, (5) Niramaleswaran Vidushana (SL) 4.15:57.