KUALA LUMPUR – National track cyclist Azizulhasni Awang has won gold in his pet keirin event at the Adelaide leg of the International Cycling Union’s Nations Cup today.
In the final, Azizulhasni was lined up against last year’s keirin bronze-medallist Shinji Nakano of Japan, 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games double gold-medallist Kaiya Ota of Japan, Jack Carlin of Britain, double Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Matthew Richardson of Australia and Xue Chenxi of China.
After the pacer bike left the track, with two laps to go Azizulhasni powered his way to the front of the pack.
He kept his furious pace until he crossed the finish line in first with a time of 9.910s. Nakano was second and Ota third.
The Pocket Rocketman finished top of his heat in the first round, which sent him straight to the second round.
However, he ended Heat 1 of the second round in third place, just making it to the gold medal match.
Malaysia’s other representative Muhammad Fadhil Mohd Zonis failed to qualify for the second round after failing to finish his first-round repechage.
Meanwhile, Shah Firdaus Sahrom did not compete in the keirin but his name is on the start list for the individual sprint tomorrow. – February 3, 2024