Skip to main content

Azizul stays on track

PETALING JAYA: Track cyclist Azizul Hasni Awang showed that his focus and concentration have not wavered at all despite coping with studies and impending marriage by taking a third career World Cup keirin gold medal at in the final leg in Beijing over the weekend.
Simply the best: Azizul and Josiah are currently the top riders in the country.
 
And with Azizul showing the ability to maintain his form coupled with a resurgent Josiah Ng, coach John Beasley is looking ahead to exciting times for Malaysian cycling in the major assignments this year, starting with the World Championships in Copenhagen in two months’ time.
Azizul and Josiah made it to the keirin final for the second successive time in the just completed World Cup series to confirm their qualification for the world championships.


Azizul and Josiah had bagged the silver and bronze medals respectively in their previous participation in the series in Melbourne last November.
However, it was the diminutive Azizul who grabbed a stunning win in the Beijing leg at the expense of a strong field, led by reigning world champion Maximilian Levy of Germany, to emerge as the overall World Cup winner for the second consecutive season.
Beasley is hoping Azizul will get his act right at the world championships after narrowly missing out on a place in the top six final in Poland last year.
“Azizul made errors and they cost him a place in the keirin final but to his credit, he bounced back with that unbelievable performance in the 200m sprint to win the silver. That showed just how strong and determined he was to get that medal,” said the Australian.
“I’m looking at him to break into the keirin final this time and if Josiah gets in too, the chances of Malaysia getting a medal are very good.”
Regardless of the outcome, it will be a first for Malaysia in world championships keirin cycling if either Azizul or Josiah gets into the final.
But Beasley added that the bigger goals would be to strike at the Commonwealth Games (October in New Delhi) and Asian Games (November in Guangzhou).
“From what they managed over the last three months, I’m convinced that Azizul and Josiah are currently a class above our Asian rivals,” he said.
“I’m optimistic enough to say that we are not just good for gold in keirin but also the possibility of a 1-2 finish in the 200m sprint.
“We will be looking at winning some medals at the Commonwealth Games too even though we will run into Australians and British riders.”
Malaysia have never won a track cycling medal at the Commonwealth Games while at the Asian Games, it has been 40 years since the country last had a gold medallist in Bangkok in 1970. THE STAR

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ex-coach's jail sentence cut to a year

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal yesterday sentenced former athletics coach C. Ramanathan to 12 months' jail for molesting two junior athletes 19 years ago. A three-man bench led by Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus unanimously dismissed Ramanathan's appeal against conviction, but varied the jail sentence of four years to a year, which was to run concurrently. Following yesterday's ruling, Ramanathan, 75, a former teacher, walked out a free man as he had served 10 months in Kajang Prison. Convicts get one-third remission for good behaviour while in prison. However, he will lose his pension. Hishamudin, who sat with Datuk Abdul Wahab Patail and Datuk Linton Albert, said the court found no merit to overturn the conviction. "However, in reducing the sentence, we considered Ramanathan's age and the long years the appeal has taken." Deputy public prosecutor Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud submitted that then High Court judge Tan Sri Abdull Hamid E...
2 comments
Read more

Govt Always Gives Emphasis To Sporting Culture, Says PM

KUALA TERENGGANU, May 29 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badaw i said the government always gives emphasis on cultivating a strong sporting culture in achieving excellence at the international level. As such, the Prime Minister said, it was important to scout for young talents in sports. "I observe that the Malaysia Games (Sukma) has become one of the important platforms to do so. "In this arena, the potentials and skills of the youngsters can be identified for development so that they can achieve greater success in sports," he said in his message in the souvenir book of the 12th Sukma from May 31 until June 9. Abdullah said he was aware that competition in sports was very keen and challenging but this did not mean that Malaysian athletes were incapable of competing at the international level. "The fact is that we have all the characteristics required to be excellent. We must inculcate a strong fighting spirit so that we don't easily surrender,...
1 comment
Read more

Rajagobal Let Off The Hook

PETALING JAYA, April 24 (Bernama) -- National head coach Datuk K. Rajagobal was let off the hook by the Football Association of Malaysia's (FAM) Disciplinary Committee after finding no evidence that he had violated FAM's Article 88, as claimed. FAM Disciplinary Committee chairman Datuk Taufik Abdul Razak said the committee had decided not to charge Rajagobal after carefully analysing the video of the post-match press conference by the 56-year-old coach. "After listening to the recording of the post-match press conference, we decided to drop the charge against Rajagopal as he did not make such a statement. "Maybe his (Rajagobal) assessment and comments of the match was misconstrued by the media. There was no mention of the FAM policy throughout his comments," said Taufik after emerging from a three-hour Disciplinary Committee meeting at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya, here, Wednesday. Rajagobal who does not mince his words when asked to com...
4 comments
Read more