Trinidad and Tobago cyclist Njisane Phillip finished sixth in the men's match sprint event of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup event yesterday in Cali, Colombia.
Phillip got as far as the quarterfinals before losing to German Stefan Botticher. From there, he progressed to the fifth to eighth place ride-off, where he placed second behind Malaysian Azizul Hasni Awang, who clocked 10.460 seconds to seal fifth spot.
But Phillip did finish ahead of Venezuela's Hersony Canelon, who beat the T&T sprinter in the semi-finals of the Pan American Games before emerging as champion. Canelon was seventh in the ride off, ahead of Polish rider Damian Zielinski.
In the quarter-final, Phillip failed to force a decider when he lost to Botticher in two rides, the German winning in 10.275, and then 10.649. Canelon also lost in two rides to another German, Robert Forstemann.
Phillip got to the final eight by qualifying seventh in a time of 10.183 in the Flying 200, before disposing of New Zealander Edward Dawkins in the round of 16, his winning time being 10.548.
Both Phillip and Canelon are competing for points towards qualification for the London 2012 Olympic Games. There are only two spots available for countries from the Americas region.
There are also World Cup events in Beijing in January and London in February, as well as a few other international events where riders can accrue points towards Olympic Games qualification.
Source: www.trinidadexpress.com