CYCLING UCI TRACK WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Azizul grabs silver in Poland

AZIZUL HASNI AWANG

AFTER the disappointment of missing the keirin final on Thursday, Azizul Hasni Awang got the medal he wanted when the pint-sized sprinter took the 200m sprint silver after a battling performance last night.

The 21-year-old lost out to fastest qualifier Gregory Bauge of France in the second meeting en route to Malaysia's first ever silver medal at the UCI Track World Championships in Pruszkow, Poland.

The reigning Asian champion in sprint, Azizul lost the first heat by a millimetre to Bauge in the first heat of the final but won the second by a clear margin, before losing out in the decider.

This came a day after Rizal Tisin delivered Malaysia's first ever medal at the World Championships when he won the bronze in the 1km time trial in Asian record time.

But the 21-year-old felt that without a crucial error in the decider he could have caused a major upset.
"I'm still happy with my silver medal. It's not too bad, but I'm a little bit sad because I knew I could do it," Azizul said.

"After I drew the second match I felt I had the legs to do it, but sometimes we make mistakes, right?

"I made a mistake during my last ride and I couldn't get the speed up that I needed."

Asked how his achievement will be met at home, Azizul added: "I think everyone's happy.

"Especially as we came here not really thinking about medals, we just wanted to perform well and break a few national records.

"For me to get the silver and Rizal the bronze in the kilometre is a big bonus for Malaysia, and for Asia."

It was a hectic final two rounds last night as Azizul handed Australia's World Cup champion Shane Perkin two straight hits in the semi-finals to set up his meeting with Bauge, who was the fastest qualifier with a time of 9.930s, in the final.

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