For my papa
Fatehah trains at home because of sick dad
PETALING JAYA: Woman track cyclist Fatehah Mustapa wants to be closer to her ailing father Mustapa Kassim and is training at home to prepare for her Indonesia Asian Games mission in August.
His father suffered a second stroke recently, prompting Fatehah to make the decision to switch base from Melbourne to the National Velodrome in Nilai.
National track coach Junaidi Nasir said Fatehah made the request after the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast to train here.
“Fatehah asked our head coach John (Beasley) and the Podium Programme for permission to train in Malaysia so that she can be near her father.
“We have no problem letting her train here until the Asian Games as the rest of the team, including Azizulhasni Awang, will be joining up later for a training camp next month.
“I am around to coach her here and she is following John’s training programme,” said the former national cyclist.
Fatehah shone at the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games winning four gold medals (sprint, keirin, 500m time trial and team sprint with Farina Shawati Mohd Adnan) but did not have a good outing at the Commonwealth Games last month.
Women’s keirin made its debut in Gold Coast and the 29yearold, who is from Terengganu, had high hopes of bagging a medal but found herself disqualified for a technical infringement after reaching the final.
Fatehah faces the possibility of finding herself out of the Podium Programme if she fails to impress at the Asian Games.
She did not qualify for the Track Cycling World Championships in Holland in February and thus Jakarta will be her best stage to prove that she is still competitive, at least in the Asian stage.
Junaidi has no doubt Fatehah still can deliver the goods.
“Her motivation has to be strong and I am sure she knows what she wants. We hope she can do well in the keirin as that is our best chance in the women’s sider,” he said.
Fatehah chalked a first for Malaysia in women’s cycling when she bagged silver in keirin at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.
In Incheon, Josiah Ng also contributed a bronze medal in men’s keirin.