Manender Singh Balhara

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Manender Singh Balhara

Manender Singh Balhara won the State Cycling Championship in the Under 17 category recently. The Nerul lad emerged victorious in the 20 km Individual Time Trail event, during the Maharashtra State Road Cycling Championship (2008-2009). Maharashtra State Cycling Association (MCA) organised the championship events at Talegaon (Pune) on October 5.


Manender Singh (right) with his coach Rajendra Soni on the Palm Beach Road, where he trains every day for at least two hours

By virtue of the above achievement, Manender will now represent the Maharashatra state at the National Cycling Championship. It is scheduled to be held from October 17-21 at Jamkhindi, district Bagalkot in Karnataka.

Manender Singh represented Thane district at the above state championship. “He clocked 33 minutes to cover the 20-km stretch. In contrast, the runner up, Varun Kansara from Pune clocked 36 minutes,” said Parabjot Singh Kalsi, president of Thane District Amateur Cycling Association (TDACA).

Such a wide margin makes the win all the more commendable. “It amounts to a margin of 1.75 km in terms of distance. Usually it is around 50 m distance, which makes a difference between a winner and a runner-up,” pointed out his coach Rajendra Soni, former national cycling champion and international cyclist.

The 25 contenders in the event were clocked off one after another. The terrain of the road in MIDC was full of up and down curvatures. “My aim was to catch up with Varun Kansara in the first lap itself. Within five km, I caught up with him. I finished the first lap of 10 km in 16 minutes flat and the second in 17 minutes,” said Manender Singh, a class 11 student of DAV Public School, Nerul.

Manender is being groomed by Nerul Gymkhana, under its Mission-2010 initiative for the forthcoming Commonwealth games. Nerul Gymkhana provided the race cycle and roped in Rajendra Soni to train such promising cyclists.

“We also kept at his disposal spin cycling, swimming and gym facilities. And the results are there for all to see,” said Anil Kumar Kartha, coordinator of Nerul Gymkhana Mission-2010 initiative.

“Such facilities and support have gone a long way in whatever I have achieved so far,” acknowledged Manender. So far, Manender has won gold medals in the national and state championship for four years in a row.

Under the watchful eyes of his coach Rajendra Soni, Manender trains daily for a couple of hours on the Palm Beach Road stretch between Belapur and Vashi. “I take 11 minutes to cover the lap of 7.5 km. I undertake 3-4 such laps,” informed Manender. On Sunday, however, the training turns more rigorous. It is undertaken on a 120-km stretch to Khopoli and return.

At present, Manender rides an Italian-make Scott Cycle procured by Nerul Gymkhana. “A more light carbon alloy vehicle costs around Rs 7 lakh. With such a vehicle, I could have clocked 30 or 31 minutes in the above event. In plain road event, I could have easily finished a similar stretch in 28 minutes flat,” added Manender.

In a short span of taking up the sport, the young cyclist has made rapid strides. “He made Navi Mumbai proud by his winning spree at the state and national level. Hence, sponsorship for such a cycle would put him in striking distance of championship at the Commonwealth 2010 Games,” said Parabjot Singh Kalsi.


Track Record: For the past three years, Manender has been winning the state championship in the same event, but in the Under 15 category (stretch of 5 km). He also won the National Road Cycling Championship (in the Mass Start and Individual Time Trail) in the Under 15 Category, held at Erode, Tamil Nadu.

The Rotary Club Navi Mumbai Seaside (RCNM) presented its Rotary Vocational Excellence Awards 2008 (RVEA) to 11 outstanding achievers of Navi Mumbai from diverse fields on Sunday evening at a function. They included an engineer, two Carnatic music vocalists, three sports persons, a choreographer, a painter, a writer, a child model and TV artist and a yoga exponent.

Manender Singh Balhara

Nerul: In a novel attempt to support ace cyclist Manender Singh Balhara, 17, for his quest to embark on international platform, Nerul Gymkhana had organised a cycle rally recently in Nerul. The rally had over 50 enthusiastic cyclists from across the city, of which St Augustine High School students formed a major chunk. It was aimed at raising funds for Manender, so that he may be able to compete at in his debut international race in the coming days.


pedal all the way: In a bid to support ace cyclist Manender Singh Balhara, planning to embark on international platform, a local Gymkhana organised a cycle rally in Nerul

The rally was kicked off from the east side of Seawoods station, Nerul, with Gymkhana members accompanying the cyclists. Manender took the centre stage throughout the rally, which passed through various pockets of Nerul before terminating at Nerul Gymkhana. It was flagged off by Cidco director Namdev Bhagat, who also pledged to lend a helping hand for Manender's cause.

National champion Manender, who is a resident of Nerul, said, "It feels nice to see so many people from different spheres of life come and lend their support for my cause. I am elated to see the overwhelming response in this rally. I will make sure I live upto their expectations by making it to the international level and win medals for the country."

Manender has found a place in the national camp, based on his consistent performance at state and national shows, to undergo advanced training for his further selection to team India that would take part in 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games. He is optimistic about being nominated to the Indian team, for which he needs a performance-enhancing cycle of an international brand.

Anil Kumar Kartha, his sports coordinator from Nerul Gymkhana, said, "We have vowed to get him an imported cycle which will help him improve his performance. The branded cycle will cost around Rs 7 lakh, for which we are raising the required funds by hosting various activities. In addition to this rally, we have arranged a musical show shortly to support him in his endeavour."

Manender has been a trainee at Nerul Gymkhana ever since the Mission 2010 race was created. The aim of the race was to prepare young talents from Navi Mumbai to represent India at next year's Commonwealth Games. Manender is also the only athlete so far, who has inched closer to his dream mission. Manedner is currently being coached by 12-time national champion and international cyclist Rajendra Soni. "He is all set to qualify for the national team," said his elated coach Soni.

Manender has two gold and a silver medal to his credit from previous national competitions. He has won over a dozen state accolades during his career spanning over six years. He practices for four hours daily under the watchful eyes of his coach Soni along the Palm Beach road and Pune-Mumbai Highway upto Khopoli.

Manender Singh Balhara

Nerul Gymkhana’s pilot project ‘Mission-2010’, which was envisaged back in 2004, in an attempt to produce international standard sportspersons from the cyber city to compete at the Commonwealth Games, to be held in New Delhi in 2010, cleared its initial hurdle with the help of child prodigy Manender Singh Balhara.


Nerul Gymkhana is proud to have a prolific cyclist in their premises that did the city proud through his pedal power. Manender became the junior national champion in cycling at an age of just 15. According to his coach and the Gymkhana members, Manender’s selection to Commonwealth Games is confirmed, based on his latest achievement at the national level tournament.

“We are relieved after having crossed the first barrier in our journey towards Mission-2010, which happens to be our dream plan. Manender is likely to be the flag bearer of Nerul Gymkhana at the Commonwealth Games,” reveals Sharad Kathuria, a member of the Nerul Gymkhana.

His ambitious coach and international cyclist Rajendra Soni, who is optimistic about Manender’s assured entry into the 2010 Commonwealth Games, seems to be the happiest in the Nerul Gymkhana family.

“He has to go a long way, as I do see much higher goals in front of Manender rather than the Commonwealth Games. He is certainly a medal hopeful in 2010. He has tremendous potential to carve a niche for himself for an Olympics berth. The way he has scaled the pinnacle of success, as a junior national champion in a short stint, he is simply unstoppable,” points out coach Soni.

After having achieved a hat trick in the state level tournaments, Manender made a giant leap this time, thus winning two gold medals at the recently held National Road Cycling Championship at Trichungud, near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. The event was organised by Tamil Nadu Cycling Association under the flagship of the Cycling Federation of India. Manender, a 10th grader from DAV Public School, Nerul, claimed double titles, while competing in the under-15 age group. He finished first in the 10 km Individual Time Trial, clocking 15:30 minutes, when he left his nearest challenger over a km behind him. It was a huge victory margin for Manender. “There were hardly any competitors, who came close to my stride.

This was my quickest finishing time ever. There were 40 champion riders from as many as 20 states in my age group. The routine practice for over four years on Palm Beach road every morning and evening yielded a rich harvest at last. I bettered my national position from fifth place to fourth last year and at the top this year. It happened to be a gradual improvement in the ranking pattern. It did not take place overnight, but took me four long years to achieve the feat,” said Manender.

His second gold medal from the nationals came in the 20 km Mass Start, where he clocked 29 minutes flat to reach the finishing line, 30 seconds ahead of the second place winner.

“I am grateful to Nerul Gymkhana for providing me the best facility they could through spin cycling training, gym workout and swimming pool. The most expensive among all facilities was when they gifted me the best racing cycle for my age group that costs Rs 70,000. I am comfortable with this updated cycle.

I am also proud to be the disciple of a great athlete, Rajendra Soni, who has trained me from day one. He has been a major source of inspiration in my sports career. I am sure to compete alongside the senior cyclists in the open category in the next couple of years,” assures a calm and composed Manender.

On his return from the nationals, he was honoured by Nerul Gymkhana members at a simple yet elegant felicitation function specially organised for him on Sunday. “We have been lending our helping hand to Manender since the last four years and will continue to do so in future to see him excel at the international scene. He made our task easier for Mission-2010,” said Anil Kartha, an office bearer of Nerul Gymkhana.

Manender’s performance graph:

  • Over a dozen local championship titles in short distance cycling
  • First state level title in 2005 in 5 km race, clocking 8:19 minutes
  • Second state title in 2006 in 5 km race, clocking 8:50 minutes
  • Third state crown in 2007 in 5 km race, clocking 8:02 minutes
  • First national at Kurukshetra in 2005 in 5 km race, he was placed 5th
  • Second national at Jabalpur in 2006 in 7.5 km, he improved his rank to 4th

Manender singh Balhara again won the 15th road national junior cycling championship.he won individual time trial gold medal , team time trial bronze medal held at patna (Bihar) from 12th April to 18th April 2011. he also won silver medal in 40th junior trek cycling championship (team time trial event )held at Patiala (Punjab) from 1st to 6th Feb. 2011.


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