Queen of the road
Petite cyclist Nur Aisyah completes grand sweep
SMALL-FRAMED Nur Aisyahh Mohamad Zubair now standds out as one of the future giants oof Malaysian cycling.
The 21-year-old Nur Aisyaah from Terengganu pedalled heer way to complete a grand sweepep of all three gold medals at stake in the road cycling competition when she overcame fatigue in the closing moments to romp to the girls’ criterium title in Taiping yesterday.
Nur Aisyah’s explosive power at the final dash saw her rake up an unbeatable 36 points to finish on top in the 50km race.
Her training partner Ezzatie Fifiyana Shazwanie Hisham made it a 1-2 finish for Terengganu with 21 points while Sarawak’s Nur Azrenna Ahmad Jumry took the bronze with 14.
Nur Aisyah, who had won the 30km individual time trial and 80km road race events earlier in the week, was all smiles.
“I’ve completed my mission to take all three gold medals in my last Sukma appearance,” said Nur Aisyah, who described her campaign over the last few days as a battle of mind over matter.
“It is a historic achievement for Terengganu cycling. I hope I will leave a legacy for the other young riders from my state to be as successful as this. “Itt has not been easy to continue afte er each day as there was no res t in between. There was the pre essure to win although physical lly I was ready for the tasks.
“I’ve prepared well over the last two years for this Sukma and I dedicate the gold medals to my parents, coach and the Terengganu government for the support,” added Nur Aisyah, who aspires to ride in the Philippines SEA Games next year.
Nur Aisyah, who won five golds in the last Sukma in Kuching in 2016, is on track to better Fatehah Mustapa’s six-gold achievement in cycling.
Fatehah, who is also from Terengganu, won the individual and team road race, criterium race, 200m sprint, 500m time trial and team time trial but missed out on the individual time trial after settling for bronze.
Kemaman-born Nur Aisyah now has four days of rest before she switches her focus to the track discipline, where she will compete in the keirin, 10km scratch race, 3km individual pursuit and team pursuit.
Terengganu claimed a double after Wan Abdul Rahman Hamdan won the boys’ criterium 80km race ahead of teammate Zuladri Amin Zulkurnain.