Pushing limit in Nilai
Azizul lives dangerously to bag a double as part of practice for Paris stint
Azizulhasni Awang is taking no chances going into his fifth and final Olympic Games appearance in Paris in two months time.
The 36-year-old Azizul had to work his way through tough situations to bag the sprint and keirin double gold medals for Malaysia in the Australia-sea Track Cup I at the National Velodrome in Nilai last night.
In the men’s elite sprint final, Azizul had to chase down Mohd Ridwan Sahrom and overtake his younger rival on the finish line to win.
Earlier, he had breezed through the quarter-finals and semis to earn a showdown against Ridwan.
He also had to work hard in the men’s elite keirin when he went for a long sprint run in the final to pick up his second victory ahead of back-up rider Ahmad Safwan Ahmad Nazeri and Dika Alif Dhentaka of Indonesia.
The Malaysian had won the first two heats to reach the final.
Paris Olympic-bound rider Mohd Shah Firdaus Sahrom did not have a good day as he crashed in the quarter-finals of the men’s sprint. The double Asian Games bronze medallist also missed out on the podium in the keirin after placing fifth just ahead of Australia’s Sam Gallagher.
Azizul was happy to execute his tactics well and described his outing yesterday as part of his training leading up to Paris Olympics.
“I did not wear full race suit and I did not race with big gears. In my races today, I intentionally allowed my rivals to go in front and then try to chase them from behind,” said Azizul.
“The competition here is not so tough, so I use these competitions as training practice to gauge my speed.
“I am happy with my pace as I managed to dip below 10 seconds in the qualifying for sprint in the morning, so I know I’m moving in the right direction.
“Right now, it’s about finding the extra miles in racing.
“It’s a productive full day of racing where I managed to win all my races in sprint and keirin despite not being in top condition after returning from Europe recently,” said Azizul, who will skip the Australia-sea Track Cup II today.
Paris Olympic-bound rider Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri was also in top form to romp to a double in the women’s elite sprint and keirin events.
Izzah defeated her teammate Nurul Aliana Syakifa Azizan in the women’s sprint final and showed her class by winning the keirin final by a wide margin ahead of Indonesian Ratu Afifah Nur Indah.
The Australia-sea Track Cup I and II sees good participation from riders from Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia apart from the national cyclists.