World mission for Azizulhasni

All cannons are now aimed at a little town on the outskirts of Paris, where Azizulhasni Awang vows to take his third UCI Track World Championships medal in February.

A fourth place in the keirin at Round Two of the UCI World Cup in London on Sunday boosted the two-time World Championships silver medallist’s confidence enough to announce an all-out assault in the 2015 World Championships in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France.

“It is now full focus on the World Championships.

“I head back to Melbourne to work solely on that target,” said Azizulhasni, 26.
The three-time UCI World Cup overall keirin champion has not tasted World Championships success since his keirin silver medal in Ballerup, Denmark in 2010 which followed a silver in the sprint in Pruszkow, Poland a year earlier.

But the hunt was marred by a career-threatening calf injury sustained via a horrific crash at the Manchester Velodrome in 2011 where an 11-inch wood splinter pierced through his calf kept the fiery sprinter at bay in the coming years.

That no longer seems the case.

“I’m satisfied with the result because it shows my performance has improved as planned and the mission to make the final was achieved,” said Azizulhasni.
“I was so close to a podium finish.

“I thought I’d finished third but Volkakis just managed to squeeze through at the finish line.
“I lost by just 0.007s. I didn’t make it in the sprint with only a 28th fastest time, but I’m confident that by the time we reach the World Championships in France the times will be much better.”

Azizulhasni also announced that his World Cup campaign this season ended in London to make way for 100 per cent focus on the World Championships.

“I will skip the final round of the World Cup in Cali (Colombia on Jan 17-18) as I want to put everything into my World Championships preparations,” said Azizulhasni.

By ARNAZ M. KHAIRUL - NST

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