Skip to main content

Fatehah hungry for more success after historic feat

Fatehah Mustapa shows off her keirin silver medal won at the World Cup track cycling event in Guadalajara, Mexico on Sunday.
Fatehah Mustapa shows off her keirin silver medal won at the World Cup track cycling event in Guadalajara, Mexico on Sunday.

PETALING JAYA: Having announced her arrival on the world stage in style, track cyclist Fatehah Mustapa is determined to stay there.

Her best season in the Track World Cup, which culminated with a historic silver medal in the final round in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Sunday saw Fatehah breaking into the top five in the world rankings for women’s elite keirin for the first time.

She jumped to fourth behind third-placed Rebecca Angharad James of Britain and second-placed German Kristina Vogel, the London Olympic gold medallist in team sprint.

Hong Kong’s Lee Wai Sze, the London Olympic bronze medallist for keirin and the one Fatehah narrowly lost to on Sunday evening, takes the top spot.

The world rankings will be used to determine the cyclists who will ride at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

There is no rest for the 25-year-old from Terrengganu despite becoming the first Malaysian woman cyclist to stand on the World Cup podium.

Fatehah headed straight back to her home base in Melbourne, where she is expected to resume training later in the week.

On top of her mind is the Track World Championships in Cali, Colombia, from Feb 26 to March 2 where she is hoping to create another piece of history in her pet event.

“I will take a two-day break and then it’s back to working out in the gym and track training.
“There is not much time left before the world meet. I hope to beat Wai Sze and get a place on the podium for my first World Championships medal.

“She is the best sprinter in Asia for keirin in the World Cup season so far and narrowing the gap on her is my goal,” said the determined Fatehah, who has beaten Wai Sze once.

Fatehah beat Wai Sze, who is the reigning world champion for 500m time trial, en route to claiming the keirin title at the Asian Cycling Championships in Kuala Lumpur in 2012.

Fatehah enjoyed her best season by reaching the final in all three World Cup legs. She was sixth in Manchester last November and fourth in the second leg in Aguascalientes last month.

Having outdone her better known male counterparts like Azizulhasni Awang and Josiah Ng, Fatehah is now considered a strong gold medal prospect at the Incheon Asian Games later this year.

She is now ranked 14th in the sprint world rankings and has qualified for the event at the world meet as well.


 by Lim Teik Huat - 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

Indonesia Choose Komodo Dragon As SEA Games Mascot

KUALA LUMPUR, April 26 (Bernama) -- Host for the 26th SEA Games, Indonesia has chosen the Komodo dragon as mascot for the 2011 Games which will be held in Jakarta and Palembang from Nov 11 to 25. The Indonesia SEA Games Organizing Committee (Inasoc), was qouted by Jakarta Post as saying that a pair of Komodo dragons, a male (Modo) and a female (Modi), were chosen in recognition of the Republic's conservation efforts to protect the dwindling number of the rare lizard. Modo and Modi were unveiled last night at a function in Jakarta, to mark the 200-day countdown before the games open on Nov 11 in Palembang. The Komodo dragons, the largest lizard in the world, only live on the Indonesian islands of Komodo in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara. On Jan 15, Inasoc unveiled its logo, a Garuda eagle, to symbolize the power and grandeur of Indonesia. Indonesia dominated the Games between 1977, when it first competed, and 1997, failing to top the medal charts only twice in that p...
1 comment
Read more