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CYCLING: Azizul on the prowl

World No 1 returns to favourite hunting ground in Cali

  THE second round of the UCI World Cup in Cali, Colombia this weekend will give Azizul Hasni Awang a chance to regain his confidence in his comeback.
  The 23-year-old still holds on to his World No 1 spot in the keirin despite a lacklustre return to racing in the opening round of the World Cup in Astana, Kazakhstan on Nov 4-6.

  In his first competition since recovering from a  career threatening calf injury sustained in the final round of last season's World Cup in Manchester, Azizul went out in the first round repechages of the keirin.

  Josiah Ng won the repechage heat in which Azizul was eliminated and went on to finish fourth in the final. Though Josiah has only a  slim chance of qualifying for an individual spot in the Olympics, the points did add to the nation's rankings.

  Fatehah Mustapa is also in Cali, having delivered on her three-gold medal target in the Sea Games in Jakarta last week and will now look to cement her spot with Malaysia currently 12th in the women's keirin rankings.

  National team manager Datuk Naim Mohamad said there was no particular concern with Azizul's poor showing in Astana and expectations are that he will produce improvements in Cali.

  "It was a good warm-up for Azizul in Astana and Josiah also showed that he is still able to step up a gear and rank among the best," said Naim.

  "It is still early days and our sights are on the Olympics in London. Cali is Azizul's favourite hunting ground and he has many admirers among the cycling fans there, so he won't be short of supporters there.

  "At the same time, we're not pressuring Azizul to quickly start producing  results. He has time and he's not in danger of losing the Olympic spot and neither is his ranking threatened."

  The squad  arrived in Cali on Saturday to  acclimatise and prepare for the meet.

  Naim said Azizul is  expected to be back at his best when he heads to the third round of the World Cup in Beijing, the scene of his  first ever World Cup gold medal in 2008, on Jan 13-15.

  "We expect that Beijing will be where we will see Azizul back at his best. After that, we head to London for the final round of the World Cup which will be held on the same velodrome that hosts the Olympics," said Naim.

  "The World Championships in Melbourne will be his first big target, before we take a break and prepare for the Olympics."

Read more: NST

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