Azizul’s agony
Sprint champ pays heavy price for underestimating opponents
REIGNING Asian Games sprint champion Azizulhasni Awang underestimated the opposition in men’s keirin and paid a heavy price for it.
Yesterday, Azizulhasni settled for bronze in his pet keirin race on the final day of the track cycling competition at Jakarta International Velodrome.
Fresh after winning the sprint event on Thursday, Azizul had the power to charge to a second gold but he made the mistake of taking his time to sprint right after the derny pulled away in the top-six final yesterday.
And Azizul’s final dash came too late as he finished third in the event where he took gold at the World Track Cycling Championships in Hong Kong last year.
Jai Angsuthasawit, competing in his fourth international competition and coached by Azizul’s former teammate Josiah Ng, pulled off the biggest surprise by winning the race for Thailand.
Japan’s Yudai Nitta took the silver. As expected, Azizul was shatterd as he felt he was in the best form going into the race. He reached the final after finishing third in the first semi-final heat won by the Thai cyclist.
“I’m sad because I was confident I could get the gold. I conserved my energy and there was no pressure going into the final,” said the Melbourne-based cyclist.
“I tried to play it safe at the start but I stepped on the pedal when the Japanese and Korean riders also started to counter-attack. I was boxed in and could not find room to move outside.
“If I had tried to push harder, I could have gotten myself disqualified.
“It’s a wasted opportunity as I was in good form and my legs were not tired going into the final. But coach (John Beasley) consoled me and said I should be happy as I still won a medal.”
Teammate Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom failed to reach the main final but managed to win the consolation race (7th-12th placing) to finish seventh.
Malaysia ended the track cycling campaign with a gold, silver and bronze.
Josiah, a four-time Asian Games medal winner himself, was happy that his compatriot delivered the gold.
“Azizul performed amazingly throughout the week. It’s just that anyone can win in a keirin final and you need the element of luck also.”