National track cyclist Azizulhasni Awang (right) in action against China's Bao Saifei in the men's sprint bronze medal race at the Incheon International Velodrome during the 17th Asian Games on Wednesday. By Izzrafiq Alias/The Star
INCHEON: Two-year-old Amna Maryam will have to wait for her Asiad medal as her dad Azizulhasni Awang could only finish fourth in the men’s sprint race at the Incheon International Velodrome.
The 26-year-old lost 1-2 to Bao Saifei of China in the bronze medal bout yesterday.
Seiichiro Nakagawa of Japan clinched the gold after beating compatriot Tomoyuki Kawabata 2-0 in the final.
Earlier in the semi-finals, Azizulhasni lost 0-2 to Kawabata.
“I’m really disappointed with my result today. I came here to win, but it was just not destined to be,” said Azizulhasni, who also finished fourth in the 2010 Asiad in Guangzhou.
He added that the decision to use a smaller gear could have caused him to lose the semi-finals.
“We decided to use the same gear as yesterday (Tuesday) because it was a bit windy today. But we could never really point it out to that as a cause of defeat. A race is a race and I’m just shattered now,” he said.
Azizulhasni has one last crack at the gold when he defends his keirin title today.
“I’ll forget what happened today when I start to race tomorrow.
“This is racing. Without a good result today, I’m all fired up to achieve something in the keirin. I promised my daughter (Amna Maryam) a medal today, but it didn’t come through … maybe tomorrow,” he said.
In the women’s sprint, Fatehah Mustapa cleared the quarter-finals after beating Lee Hye-jin of South Korea 2-0.
She will face China’s Zhong Tianshi, who broke the Asiad record with a time of 10.780 seconds in Tuesday’s qualifying rounds, in the semi-finals today.
Tianshi was an easy 2-0 winner over Lee Eun-ji of South Korea in the last eight.
Fatehah, who clocked 11.211 for the fifth fastest time in the qualifying rounds, knows she has a tough task against Tianshi.
“She is fast, no doubt about that. But I’m not going to concede defeat. I’m going to try my level best to beat her,” said Fatehah, who won the silver in the keirin on Sunday.
In the women’s omnium, Ju Pha Som Net is placed last in the six-rider field with 92 points after three events. Another three events will run today to conclude the winner.
Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.
