Arnaz M. Khairul
THE hot pre-season form of Azizul Hasni Awang hit a snag when he was struck by fever, but it is all systems go for the World Championships silver medallist as he looks to open his UCI World Cup campaign with a bang in Manchester tomorrow.
Azizul, 21, opens the Malaysian challenge in the new World Cup season when he enters tomorrow's keirin, an event which already features a star-studded cast including triple Olympic champion Chris Hoy of Britain.
The 200m sprint Asian champion, Azizul has built up his pre-season form steadily, having exacted revenge on France's Gregory Bauge in the Gran Caracol de Pista in Colombia three weeks ago. The Frenchman had beaten Azizul in the World Championships 200m sprint final in Poland in April.
"My form is still good, even if I had to recover from a fever and only managed three training sessions before coming here. So, I am not thinking about that. I'm confident going into this competition," said Azizul.
"It's good to have Hoy in this competition and with the other top riders also here, we can really have a look at how the others are performing. After beating Bauge, I feel that I'm among the top sprinters, but to go for a gold medal in this World Cup leg, I can't really say yet. My target is to get on the podium."
Hoy, who took a back seat the whole of last season after his Olympic treble feat of keirin, 200m sprint and team sprint gold medals in the Beijing Olympics, is back with a bang. At the British national championships in Manchester last Sunday, the 31-year old completed the treble again, signalling that he is back as Britain's main gold medal hope this time around.
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| Azizul Hasni Awang is fired up for the UCI World Cup tomorrow. |
The top sprinters get right into the thick of things with the keirin tomorrow. This is Azizul's favourite event, and although his results in the past season have swayed towards the 200m sprint, the Dungun-born is determined to re-establish himself at a top contender in the more exciting keirin.
In the past season, Azizul won the World Championships silver medal in the 200m sprint having failed to make the final in the keirin. And just two months ago, he lost his Asian Championships keirin crown when he finished fifth in the final.
But he more than made up for it with the 200m sprint gold and as part of the historic first Malaysian trio to be crowned Asian champions in the team sprint in Tenggarong, Indonesia.
"This time I want to focus on the keirin. There has been an evolution in the keirin and I've changed because of that. So, I want to maintain my level in the keirin.
"Here, my first target is to make the final. Then we can look at how the World Cup keirin this year is going to be. Every year we need a different type of skill to stay ahead," said Azizul, who will be riding for Australian outfit Bike Technologies in Manchester.
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