Skip to main content

Azizul cool about defending his white jersey

PETALING JAYA: All eyes will be on triple Olympic track cycling champion Chris Hoy when he makes his much anticipated world championship appearance at the Ballerup Super Arena in Copenhagen today.

And all the attention on the 34-year-old in his first major competition since the 2008 Beijing Olympics suits Malaysia’s track sensation Azizul Hasni Awang just fine.

The 22-year-old Azizul and seasoned campaigner Josiah Ng are the two Malaysian cyclists in the championships as coach John Beasley had opted to field only medal contenders.

Hoy, who was sidelined due to a hip injury which kept him out of the championships in Poland last year, fronts a strong British squad, looking to make a roaring start in the team sprint today.

Azizul will get into action with Josiah in the keirin tomorrow where he will wear the traditional white leader’s jersey for his status as the World Cup series overall winner.

The Terengganu-born Azizul is cool about his prospects.

“I’m not feeling the pressure so much and I think it’s due to Hoy’s presence. He is the man everyone wants to beat,” he said.


“I may be the wearing the white jersey for the second time but Hoy is still seen as the firm favourite even though he had only raced a few times since returning to competitions late last year.

“I did not do well last year as I was marked down a lot but, hopefully, I come out better if the opportunity comes again.”

Last year, Azizul agonisingly missed out on making the keirin final by a whisker after finishing fourth in the second round heat.

But he showed strong character to bounce back by taking a historic silver medal in the 200m sprint three days later, the best showing by a Malaysian cyclist in the world championship series thus far.

Azizul believes that he has the better chance this time to bag a medal in the keirin.

“The keirin is my stronger event but that does not mean I will take it easy in the 200m sprint. I hope to initially make it through the quarter-finals for the 200m sprint and take it from there,” he said.

Azizul and Josiah have been enjoying the cool weather in Copenhagen since last Friday and they have had three training sessions at the Ballerup Super Arena.

Team manager Datuk Naim Mohamad said that the earlier departure from their training base in Melbourne was to give the riders time to settle down.

“They have adjusted to the conditions and will be looking to start their campaign,” he said.


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