Kenny sets up gold showdown

Jason Kenny, left, will ride for Olympic gold after beating Njisane Nicholas Phillip 2-0
6 August 2012

Great Britain's Jason Kenny will ride for Olympic gold in the men's cycling sprint on day five of action at the London 2012 velodrome.

The 24-year-old from Bolton won his best-of-three semi-final with Trinidad's Njisane Nicholas Phillip 2-0.

In the first bout, Kenny was drawn as the leading rider and led from the start before being untroubled as the sprint began entering the last of the three laps.

The second saw Kenny round Phillip and show a neat turn of pace to advance comfortably.

Kenny was set to meet three-time world champion Gregory Bauge of France in the final.

In the second semi-final, Bauge was able to round Australia's Shane Perkins and win by half a bike length to take a 1-0 lead. The Frenchman then held off Perkins in the second bout to advance.

The one rider per nation rule introduced by the International Cycling Union and International Olympic Committee weakened the field and saw Kenny selected ahead of 2008 winner Sir Chris Hoy, but a Kenny versus Bauge final was befitting of the blue riband event.

Kenny finished second to Hoy in Beijing and to Bauge at April's Track Cycling World Championships in Melbourne.

The Briton was awarded the 2011 world title after Bauge was stripped of the rainbow jersey for an anti-doping infringement.

In the corresponding women's event, Victoria Pendleton eased to a comfortable victory in the first bout of her best-of-three quarter-final with Olga Panarina of Belarus.

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