Azizul plays ideal mentor as Malaysia sprint to team silver

Well done: (from left) Azizulhasni Awang, Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom and Muhammad Fadhil Zonis in action during the men’s team sprint final at the Jakarta International Velodrome yesterday.

AZIZULHASNI Awang played the mentor’s role to perfection as he combined with Muha­mmad Shah Firdaus Sahrom and Muhammad Fadhil Zonis to give Malaysia a sweet silver on the opening day of track cycling competition.

It was the first time Malaysia won a silver medal in the men’s team sprint discipline and the trio did it in style by breaking a 10-year-old national record at the Jakarta International Velodrome yesterday.

Azizul rode with Josiah Ng and Rizal Tisin to clock 44.725 seconds at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 but the record vanished yesterday as Azizul, now 31, led Shah Firdaus and Fadhil to a sizzling 43.934 to top the qualifying ahead of China’s Li Jianxin, Xu Chao and Zhou Yu (43.996).

They also broke the Asian Games record of 44.460 held by China since 2010 in the process.

However, the trio did not manage to repeat their form in the final and settled for silver with 44.598 against China’s 44.160.

“Our mission here was to break the national record that have stood for 10 years since the Beijing Olympics. We did not know if it was good for a medal as this was the first time we combined together to build up a combination for team sprint,” said Azizul.

“I was the youngest 10 years ago but now I’m the one guiding the team. We managed to smash it by one second.

“I told them to keep their focus as this was the first Asian Games (for Shah Firdaus and Fadhil) and there should be no pressure racing for gold or silver.

“Unfortunately, our best was not enough and I think a false start by China rattled them a bit.

“It’s okay, as it’s still a good start for the cycling team,” said Azizul.

Terengganu-born Azizul and Shah Firdaus will be looking to continue the momentum when they race in keirin tomorrow.

National coach John Beasley was delighted with the silver.

“This is the first team sprint medal we won at the Asian Games since I’ve been coaching. We were fourth in 2006 (Doha) and 2010 (Guangzhou); and fifth in 2014 (Incheon), so it’s nice to get one,” said the Australian.

“I’m a bit gutted we did not get the gold but it’s just that we did not execute well in the second race,” said the Australian.

Farina Shawati Mohd Adnan and Anis Amira Rosidi clocked 35.261 to finish sixth in the women’s team sprint qualifying. Only the top four nations qualify for the medal rounds.