Azizul: We’ve what it takes to get a 1-2 finish

CYCLIST Azizulhasni Awang wants a 1-2 finish in the indi-vidual events to o stamp Malaysia’ ’s mark in the Asia an region.

“We’ve got what it takes to get a 1-2 finish,” said a determined Azizulhasni, who is eager to return to action in the track cycling competition at the Jakarta International Velodrome today.

Azizul and Muhd Shah Firdaus Sahrom will bid for glory in the sprint event followed by the keirin on Aug 31.

Azizul led Shah Firdaus and Mohd Fadhil Zonis to break a 10-year national record en route to a superb silver in the men’s team sprint on Monday.

The 30-year-old is in a buoyant mood and highly motivated to secure a breakthrough in the sprint event.

“I’ve yet to get a medal in sprint so far. I can see that we are in good form (after the team sprint) and this gives us extra confidence for the individual events,” said Azizul, who made his Asian Games debut in style by taking the keirin gold ahead of teammate Josiah Ng in Guangzhou eight years ago.

“If we can reach the final for keirin, the chances of winning gold is good. I told Shah that we’ll try for a 1-2 finish in the sprint.

“He can do it as he is physically bigger than me and has the speed to go for it,” he said.

Farina Shawati Mohd Adnan was unlucky to miss out on a place in the women’s keirin final yesterday.

Farina, fourth in the keirin at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April, thought she was through to the final after coming in second behind Hong Kong’s defending champion Lee Wai Sze in the first semi-final heat but was later relegated.

Anis Amira Rosidi went as far as the second round but was eliminated after finishing fifth in the second semi-final heat.

Both ended third in their respective first round repechage to reach the second round.