KUALA LUMPUR: National track cyclist Shah Firdaus Sahrom has yet to fully recover from a stubborn knee tendonitis issue which has been bothering him since early February.
National track cycling team head coach Harnizam Basri said Shah has made good progress after undergoing daily physiotherapy sessions over the past few months but has yet to fully overcome the injury.
“It is taking a long time (to heal) and it is incredibly frustrating for Shah. He is, however, doing his best to remain positive and continues to work on it,” said Harnizam when contacted today (July 30).
“He is working on strengthening his (right) knee by doing specific exercises under the supervision of our physiotherapist.
“I would say he is about 90 per cent recovered now. The issue now is that he feels discomfort and a loss of power when his leg and knee are bent between 77 to 90 degrees.
“He is fine if he is pedalling in a seated position but it affects him when he is doing out-of-seat efforts during sprints, which is not ideal for a rider like him.
“I expect him to be able to compete at the World Championships later this year, the challenge is to get him in the best condition possible.”
Shah is expected to compete alongside younger brother Ridwan or Fadhil Zonis for Malaysia in the keirin at the World Championships in Santiago, Chile on Oct 22-26.
Harnizam confirmed that Shah will not be fielded at the Thailand Track Cup next month (Aug 25) as he does not want to risk Shah aggravating the injury or, even worse, crashing.
Shah, 29, had picked up the injury during a strength training session in early February.
He, however, fought through the pain to race at the UCI Nations Cup in Konya, Turkiye a month later and won the keirin gold. It was his first gold individual medal in a major international competition.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
