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Azizul picks up outstanding achiever award

KUALA LUMPUR: Three-time World Cup track cycling champion Azizulhasni Awang, who is busy preparing for his wedding reception in Ipoh on Sunday, had a pleasant surprise when he was honoured with the Yayasan Sime Darby (YSD) Outstanding Achiever Award yesterday.
Azizul picked up a cheque of RM20,000 as the winner of the inaugural award in appreciation of his sportsmanship and courage besides his admirable achievements in track cycling.
It was the second windfall for Azizul this month after he won RM10,000 for claiming the national Sportsman of the Year award.

The YSD chairman, Tun Musa Hitam, said that the award was made available for individual beneficiaries of the foundation under five pillars – education; community development; youth; sports and recreation; and arts and culture.

YSD have contributed RM2mil to fund the team’s participation in international competitions with the aim of collecting points to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics.

Individually, Azizul will be receiving support of RM456,000 under the YSD ‘Star’ Scholarship programme to pursue a three-year Bachelor of Exercise Science and Human Movement at the Victoria University in Melbourne, beginning in June.

“Since receiving support from YSD, we have seen tremendous success from Azizul in his cycling career,” said Musa.

“Not only did he win a gold medal in the Asian Games in Guangzhou last year but he went on to become a third overall World Cup keirin winner in Manchester last month.

“He became the first track cyclist to win it three times in a row and achieved it under great adversity.
“Many were impressed by his actions as he got back on his bike and went on to complete the race to take a bronze medal in the World Cup leg in Manchester even though he suffered a nasty injury.”

Azizul got his left calf pierced by a nine-inch splinter then and subsequently missed the just concluded World Track Championships in Holland.

“I was at my wife’s place in Ipoh, busy with the preparations for my wedding reception when I got the call asking me to come to KL for this function. This is a timely present for me,” he said.
Azizul plans to get back to track training by next month.

“I’m just doing gym work and some swimming at the moment to keep myself in shape. The season has also ended but I am looking at going for my first race again at the World University Games in Shenzhen in August,” he added.

Azizul was also announced as the ambassador for the newly-founded YSD Leukemia Fund, which was set up to benefit patients in dire need of bone marrow transplant.

Eligible patients will get subsidised treatment at the Sime Darby Medical Centre in Subang Jaya.





By LIM TEIK HUAT


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