Asian Luge Championships: Keshavan wins silver

India's Shiva Keshavan added another international medal to his kitty by winning a silver at the 17th Asian Luge Championships in Nagano, Japan on Sunday.

Keshavan, who has participated in five Winter Olympics, clocked 49.934 seconds to cover the 1326 metre long ice track in the men's luge competition at the Spiral Olympic Sliding Centre in Nagano.

Hidenari Kanayama of Japan won gold in 49.791 seconds while Kim of Korea bagged the bronze with a timing of 50.178.

The 33-year-old Indian could not capitalise on his better start timing and despite a neat run, he had to be content with a silver medal for the second year in a row.

Duncan Kennedy, who has been coaching Keshavan for less than a month, said, "We have made good progress on Shiva’s comfort level on the equipment and it is showing in his consistency. We still have a lot of progress to make in aerodynamics as well as overall equipment, through materials and technology, over the next few months.

"There is also room for improvement at the start, so we are in a good place right now keeping our long term goals in mind."

Keshavan's Asian records -- the start record of 3.191 seconds and his speed record of 134.3 kmph remain intact.