Glitter Down Under for cyclist Fadhil after Olympics miss.
cyclist Fadhil ends 2019 on high note after Olympics miss
Fadhil Zonis may have missed out on qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics but at least he is bowing out of 2019 on a good note.
Fadhil romped to gold in the sprint event after beating Australian Sam Gallagher in the Bendigo Bank Insurance Invitational in Tasmania yesterday.
Gallagher was the silver medallist in the men’s keirin at the World Junior Track Cycling Championships in Germany in August.
The 20-year-old Malaysian cyclist also rode to a silver behind Australia’s Connor Rowley in the keirin final.
Fadhil, who trains alongside Azizulhasni Awang and Mohd Shah Firdaus Sahrom in the Melbourne national elite squad set-up under Australian coach John Beasley, was happy to end the year on a good note.
“There are many cycling races held towards the end of the year. Training will not stop as we will continue to prepare for the World Track Cycling Championships in Berlin, Germany, in February after this.
“I will probably not have the chance to go for the Tokyo Olympics as we won’t qualify for the team sprint as we are too far behind now.
“But for the world meet, I may probably get a chance to ride if we qualify for the team sprint.
“I may have a good chance to qualify for the 1km time trial but this will only be known later, so I’ll still continue training with my teammates,” said Fadhil, who bagged silver in the men’s elite 1km time trial event at the Asian Cycling Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, in
October. Fadhil, Azizul and Shah Firdaus rode to Malaysia’s first-ever silver medal in team sprint at the Asian Games in Indonesia last year.
However, the trio were not able to break into the top 10 in the team sprint world rankings by middle of this year and the focus shifted to the individual events after that.
Malaysia are ranked 16th in the Olympic rankings for team sprint.
Only the top eight teams by end of February will make it to the Tokyo Olympics.