The names Ronaldo and David Beckham being used during the Asian Games have left fans all across the world, perplexed. Is it an error, which has become a social media trend now? Or is it really, that the two football legends are participating at the Asiad? The answer is a yes and a no. Yes, since the duo are actually a part of the Indian contingent, and no, because they aren’t football players, but track cyclists.
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Their real names are Ronaldo Singh Laitonjam and David Beckham Elkatohchoongo, and have been on the Indian cycling team for quite some time now. In fact, the duo had also participated at the 2022 Commonwealth Games as well and were a sensation there because of their names. It is a no-brainer that their parents were huge football fans, and named their kids after their favorite players.
Last year, David Beckham told The Daily Mirror, “When I was in my mum’s tummy, in the hospital, my dad said, ‘When the baby is taken out, he shall be named David Beckham.” As for Ronaldo, his father was inspired to name him, when his namesake scored the winner in the 2002 World Cup for Brazil.
Ronaldo & David Beckham’s Performance at Asian Games
David made it to the quarterfinal in the men’s sprint event at the Asian Games on Wednesday. On a difficult track of at the CSC Velodrome, David edged out his Kazakhstan rival Sergey Ponomaryov by 0.188s to make the last eight. He will compete against Malaysia’s Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom for a place in the semifinal later in the day.
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In women’s keirin, India’s Shushikala Agashe (+1.087) finished fifth in her heat to fail to qualify for the semifinals, while Triyasha Paul (+1.109) narrowly missed qualification after finishing in third spot in her heat.
