Shiva secures 25th place in maiden Luge World Cup finals

India's Shiva Keshavan registered a respectable 25th place finish on his maiden entry into the Luge World Cup finals at the Olympic Sliding Center in Lake Placid in New York, on Saturday.

The five-time Olympian clocked a personal best time of 52.569 seconds in the first heat and followed it up with 53.159 seconds in the last heat.

Shiva's coach, Duncan Kennedy, who has 21 world titles to his credit, was satisfied with his performance.

"We hit all the key targets we had set for ourselves in this race. Shiva still has a long way to go as a slider and as he gets more and more comfortable with the new equipment, we can expect the results to improve further. I think it is a great way to start the season with a personal best," Kennedy said.

USA's Tucker West bagged the gold medal setting a new track record of 51.002. West. He also trained under Duncan until last winter and is riding on the equipment built by his former coach.

Shiva's next race is the Asian Championships in Nagano, Japan on December 21 where he has already won two gold medals and a silver medal last year.

"I am happy with where we are placed at the moment. There are no miracles in sport and you have to work hard to earn each hundredth of a second in Luge. That is what I plan to do and as long as I keep improving on my own records and ranking gradually, I will be satisfied," said the Luge pilot from Manali.

Shiva had returned with a personal best of 53.125 seconds on Friday to finish the Nations Cup race with a best showing of 15th place and qualify for the Luge World Cup.

Image: Shiva Keshavan