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| The Anglo bicyclist who did us proud |
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Kendel was the unassuming second son of Yvonne & Herbert Turner. He was born in 1972 in Lallaguda (fondly called Little England) in Secunderabad, A.P. In 1987 at the tender age of 15, his cycling abilities were noticed by his classmate’s father Mumtaz Ahmed, a coach for the Andhra Pradesh cycling team. He convinced him to give it a shot at the state trial for the forthcoming Sub-junior Cycling Nationals tournament. Being blessed with a supportive brother Russel, who already had his own share of achievements at this sport persuaded Kendel to try his luck. He surprised himself when he fared brilliantly as a first timer without any formal training.
Once he set, a lot of opportunities and laurels knocked at his door. He was selected for the National Cycling Championship where he set a national record by clocking the fastest time for the junior time trial and was selected to represent India in the International Cycling Tour held in Lithuania (erstwhile USSR) in 1988. He was pitted against several international seniors and a few world champions. He remained undaunted although he found the long distance race of 1600 Kms in 10 stages a very grueling and uncomfortable task.  The stakes got higher and that meant that he had to work harder and take on the Seniors. He emerged as a confident young man of 18 and won a few medals in the 1990 Senior National Cycling Championship. In 1992 he was selected to participate again in the International Cycling Tour held in Lithuania for a period of three months. Once there, he underwent a lot of rigorous training and took part in several competitions. On his return to India, he broke the national record for 1000 meters sprint (11.12 Secs) in the Indian trials but was disappointed when due to a bout of illness he won the Silver medal instead of the Gold. Not the one to get discouraged, he went on to win two Gold medals for individual events and 3 silvers for the team events at the senior level at the 1993 National Cycling Tournament. The triumphant moment came when he was adjudged the best Cyclist of the season. He got rave reviews in several newspapers and magazines as he toppled all previous achievements of his Anglo Indian predecessors in this sport. He decided to retire from this sport at the right time, while he was still successful and focus on other avenues of his life. In his own words he describes this journey, “I was able to accomplish all my goals in exactly five years with a lot of sweat and blood and it gives me great pride in achieving all that I did by God’s grace. Coming from a very small community in a country like India, it was never going to be a breeze.” He never fails to remember that all this would not have been possible without God’s grace, the sacrifices his family made and steadfast support of his brother Russel. Today, Kendel is an accomplished Technical specialist working for Toshiba NZ Ltd and lives happily with his wife Mary, a nurse by profession and his two beautiful daughters, Krystal & Kelsey in Auckland, New Zealand, where they migrated 7 years ago. Ø Bronze medal at the Asian Cycling Championship (New Delhi) 1989. Ø 2 National Record breakers in Time trials (1988, 1992) Ø 2 Golds & 1 Silver Medal at the Individual level senior National Championship. (1992 & 1993) Ø 3 Silver medals at the team events in the National Championship. (1993) Ø Adjudged ‘Best Cyclist’ of the National games (1993).
Medals Count: Gold Medals: 27; Silver medals: 19 ; Bronze medals: 6
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As a result, he found himself having to adhere to a strict regimen for the next three weeks. This paid off when he was able to clinch a bronze medal in the Nationals. It then dawned on him that he was good at this sport and there was no looking back. He realized that he just got his launch pad to a string of successes and fame; he also knew that it came with a lot of challenges, sacrifices, practice and discipline. This also meant he would have to invest a lot of money for the imported equipment which was a very costly affair for a normal middle class Anglo Indian family like his.
Milestones: 
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