Shah wants to shine in Gold Coast
HUGELY talented Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom is eyeing a slot in the one kilometre time trial at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games next year after an unexpectedly positive performance at the recent Kuala Lumpur Sea Games (KL2017).
Shah, who has been focusing on the keirin and sprint events in recent seasons, said he was surprised by his timing en route to the time trial silver at KL2017.
“It (KL2017) was my first time competing indoors in the time trial and I really did not know what to expect,” said Shah, when met at the Sime Darby Foundation (SDF) Road to Tokyo track cycling team press conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
“I had only started training for the time trial two months prior to the race and there was a lot I did not know from a technical perspective. I made a number of mistakes due to my inexperience.
“I went out way too slowly in the first lap and struggled to make up time in the remaining laps. Despite that I still managed to touch one minute and 2.356 seconds and I am quite pleased with that.
“There is a lot of room for improvement, I just need to keep training hard and gain more experience.
“There is one slot for the 1km time trial at the Asian Cycling Championships (ACC) in Malaysia next year and I will have to fight for that but I am also hoping to represent Malaysia in the event at the Commonwealth Games, where there are two slots.”
He finished second to Muhammad Fadhil Mohd Zonis (1:1.889s) at KL2017, who has been focusing on longer distance events compared to Shah. Both their times were close to the national record of 1:01:658s set by Rizal Tisin at the 2009 World Championships in Poland.
Shah has been touted as the next Azizulhasni Awang. He, however, has stressed that it will take time to reach the latter’s level.
The Johor-born rider has already made his breakthrough on the world stage at the Los Angeles leg of the World Cup in February, where he clinched bronze in the keirin.
“It is not just about filling Azizulhasni’s shoes, as a national rider, it is my responsibility to give my best and do the nation proud.
“At the moment there is still a lot I have to learn. I believe that experience beats talent in cycling.”
SDF-backed riders Farina Shawati Adnan, Shariz Effendi Mohd Shahrin, Khairil Nizam Rasol, Anis Amira Rosidi as well as Fadhil and Shah were part of the Malaysian track team that won 11 gold at KL2017. The group are currently being groomed to make an impact at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Fadhli Ishak