Ride on, Azizul!
Pocket rocketman on track for fourth olympics
PETALING JAYA: Track cyclist Azizulhasni Awang has one foot in the Tokyo Olympics after he moved up to second spot in the world rankings for men’s elite keirin.
The 31-year-old overtook Dutch sprinter and reigning world champion Matthijs Buchli to take second spot with 2,505 points. Buchli slipped one rung to third with 2,320 points while Japan’s Yudai Nitta remained on top with 2,850 points.
Azizul took the silver ahead of Nitta in his pet race at the Asian Track Cycling Championships in Jincheon, South Korea, last month.
Mohd Shah Firdaus Sahrom, Azizul’s training partner in Melbourne, is ranked 25th with 1,357 points.
Maintaining his position in the top five matters for Azizul, who is hoping to become not just the first Malaysian cyclist to compete in four Olympic campaigns but also improve on the historic bronze he earned in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
The 2017 world champion will focus on qualifying for the individual sprint and keirin for the Olympics since Malaysia are out of the race to be among the top eight nations for the team sprint.
Any cyclist whose nation did not qualify for the team sprint needs to be ranked inside the top seven by the end of March to make the cut for both individual events in Tokyo.
“The second phase of the Olympic qualifying campaign has already started with the Asian meet and the first Track World Cup Series in Minsk, Belarus (last week).
“I did not go to Belarus and will also skip the next leg of the Track World Cup in Glasgow, Scotland, later this month.
“I will be going for the third leg in Hong Kong at the end of this month to maintain my position in the world rankings,” said Azizul.
The reigning Asian Games champion is ranked 17th for sprint with 1,487 points, thanks to his gold medal effort at the Asian meet in South Korea.
Shah Firdaus is ranked 24th with 1,327 points.