NILAI: Track cyclist Ridwan Sahrom has vowed to bounce back after narrowly missing the podium in the men’s keirin at the MNCF President’s Cup.
Former keirin world champion Azizulhasni Awang continued to show his class, taking gold ahead of Dika Alif Dhentaka of Indonesia and Hong Kong’s To Cheuk Hei at the National Velodrome in Nilai on Thursday.
Ridwan, who won bronze in the men’s sprint on Wednesday, admitted he was still trying to regain form after the off-season.
“I’m coming off an off-season break where I went for Umrah. I had a bout of fever as well, in total I was away for 14 days and only had two training sessions for this competition,” he said.
“I haven’t set high expectations because of the short preparation. Before the race, I only had two track sessions and a few road rides. It was a small preparation, but yesterday I still clocked 10.1 seconds in the sprint, not far from my best of 9.7 seconds.”
Ridwan will compete in the second series of the President’s Cup on Saturday and Sunday and has a packed calendar ahead, including the Asian Championships in Tagaytay (March 25–31) and the World Cup series in Perth (March 6–8), Hong Kong (April 17–19) and Nilai (April 24–26).
“I still see this as a good start for me. This is preparation for the Asian Championship in March. Class 1 competition is important as I need points to qualify for the World Cup.
“My performance wasn’t perfect, finishing fourth in the keirin, but I won bronze in sprint. It’s a good start, and I hope to secure enough points for the World Cup,” he said.
Results
Men’s Elite
Keirin: 1 Azizulhasni Awang (Mas), 2 Dika Alif Dhentaka (Ina), 3 To Cheuk Hei (Hkg)
Scratch final: 1 Rostovtsev Sergey (Uzb) 11’10.148, 2 Sun Haijiao (Chn), 3 Tso Kai Kwong (Hkg), 4 New Lau Joe (Mas)
Elimination final: 1 Rostovtsev Sergey (Uzb) 13’31.354, 2 Wu Junjie (Chn), 3 New Lau Joe (Mas)
Women’s Elite
Keirin: 1 Nur Alyssa Farid (Mas), 2 Nurul Izzah Izzati Asri (Mas), 3 Yeung Cho Yiu (Hkg)
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
