Skip to main content

CYCLING: Azizul just getting started

Azizul will be trying to pry the World Cup leader’s jersey away from France’s Francois Pervis.
Azizul will be trying to pry the World Cup leader’s jersey away from France’s Francois Pervis.

IT isn't about getting there, but about staying at the top when you get there.

And that is exactly what runs through the mind of new World No 1 keirin rider Azizul Hasni Awang after being confirmed at those heights in the latest world rankings released on Monday.

"Now, it is about maintaining that position and trying to get hold of the World Cup leader's jersey, which is something difficult, given our programme, but achievable. That is my target," said Azizul, when contacted in Melbourne yesterday.

Azizul sits atop the ranking with 570 points, 50 more than Francois Pervis of France, while triple Olympic gold medallist Chris Hoy of Britain is third, yet to start his new season. Pervis is the current UCI World Cup keirin leader's jersey holder.

The pint-sized Azizul is also the first Malaysian since Josiah Ng in 2005 to attain World No 1 status in the keirin.
That comes thanks to the reigning Asian keirin champion's explosive gold medal feat in Round Two of the UCI World Cup in Melbourne on Nov 20-22, and a series of wins in UCI graded grand prix events in Australia.

The national track sprints squad under Australian coach John Beasley will sit out the third round of the World Cup in Cali, Colombia this weekend, continuing their season with the fourth round in Beijing on Jan 16-18.

"Since we're missing the Cali round, my eyes are now fully on Beijing. Being World No 1 inspires me and I want to take that World Cup leader's jersey from Pervis," said Azizul.

"I think now, we can tell all Malaysians that they can start believing that we can achieve something, we can be right at the top. But this is not the climax yet. Our main goal is the World Championships."

The squad go to the New Zealand GP tomorrow and return to Melbourne for leg four of the Revolution series, before a final tune-up in Tasmania prior to heading to Beijing next month.

NST
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Malaysian junior athletes are just too ‘lembik’

Saya setuju. We are working on more coaches! “ @ManOlimpik : Malaysian junior athletes are just too ‘lembik’ http://t.co/7D7wmHWaNy ” — Khairy Jamaluddin (@Khairykj) June 10, 2014 The benchmark. Can our junior athletes train as hard as Malaysia's world No.1 badminton player, Lee Chong Wei? “IT IS okay lah. The training is not too bad lah. I will try lah … Wah, so hard lah today.” These are some of the common statements I hear from our juniors nowadays. It is not only in badminton. It is the easy-going, laid-back attitude and lack of competitiveness at grassroots level that we have problems producing quality players. I have travelled quite a bit. After ending my decade-long career with the national team, I went to play in the league in Europe. It’s different there. The European athletes know what they want. And they do it with real focus. Even the young ones possess admirable self-control and show a high level of commitment. During my time in the ...
12 comments
Read more

Organising Major Sports Events Can Inspire Sports Culture Among The People - Khairy

PUTRAJAYA, June 5 (Bernama) -- Organising major sports events can help inspire sports culture among the people and ensure a healthy lifestyle said Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin. Khairy said the Tour of Malaysia cycling race organised since 1963, for example, can encourage more people to take the sport in a more competitive way or just for recreation purposes. "A study carried out by a world renown medical journal, The Lancet, revealed that 61 percent of adults in Malaysia do not engage themselves in active sports. "A study by the Health Ministry revealed that only 25 percent of Malaysians exercise," he said in his speech when launching the 2013 Tour of Malaysia (Jelajah Malaysia) at the Youth and Sports Ministry, here, Wednesday. "Cycling, though not as popular here as in countries like Denmark, the activity is becoming popular among the people as can be seen through an increase in sale of bicycles for recreation," he sa...
Post a Comment
Read more

Badminton: Fans rooting for all-Malaysian semis

Reports: RAJES PAUL KUALA LUMPUR: The home fans will be rooting for an all-Malaysian men’s singles semi-final between Lee Chong Wei and Liew Daren. But Chong Wei is more fancied to advance than Daren in quarter-final matches against Indonesian Simon Santoso and Dane Peter Gade-Christensen respectively at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil today. Yesterday, Chong Wei defeated Vietnamese Nguyen Tien Minh 21-9, 18-21, 21-7 in a second-round match that saw the world number one struggling to adapt to the draught in the stadium in the second game. And Daren continued a fairy tale run in his home Open, blowing away a toothless Hsueh Hsuan-yi of Taiwan 21-14, 21-12. Although Choong Wei had to slog for the win over Tien Minh, the top seed and defending champion felt that he was playing better by the day. “I got off to a good start but found it hard to cope with the draught. I tried to catch up after losing my momentum but that did not happen and I decided to conserve energy for ...
11 comments
Read more