PETALING JAYA: Mohd Shah Firdaus Sahrom may have lived up to his status as the nation’s No. 2 keirin specialist after Olympic silver medallist Azizulhasni Awang but he was far from pleased.
The 26-year-old retained his men’s elite keirin title for Johor in the National Track Cycling Championships at the National Velodrome in Nilai yesterday.
Tokyo Olympian Shah Firdaus hit the line first ahead of fellow national elite squad rider Fadhil Zonis (Selangor) and his younger brother Ridwan Sahrom (Johor), who came in second and third, in the keirin final.Shah Firdaus is pleased to come out on tops but made it clear that there is still much room for improvement.
“I’m using this national track meet to fine tune my racing craft with bigger assignments coming up on the calendar later in the year.
“I’m looking to build on my performance ahead of the Asian Cycling Championships in New Delhi (end of next month) and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games later (in July).
“Progress has been good. I have been quite consistent here. There have been a lot of positives.
“Usually when I race in Malaysia, I try to test out new race tactics because this is the right time to do so. I wouldn’t try experimenting as much in international level competitions.
“For example, in the first round (keirin) I tried to stay at the front (rather than come from behind in the sprint). It is important to be versatile as anything can happen in a race.
“My riding style is a bit different from most other riders. I think my strength is my ability to do long sprints.
“But having said that, there are still a lot of areas I need to improve on,” said Shah Firdaus, who will be looking to reunite with coach John Beasley next week when the Australian flies into Malaysia for the final phase of preparation for the Asian meet.
There were no surprises in the women’s keirin final with national elite squad rider Anis Amira Rosidi taking the win for Perlis ahead of Nurul Aliana Syafika Azizan (Penang) and Nurul Izzah Izzati (Kedah).
Lim Chun Kiat continued to shine for Sabah as he claimed bronze in the men’s elite points race final.
Chun Kiat, also bound for the Asian meet as Malaysia’s representative in the individual pursuit event, earned 56 points in the 30km long distance race won by Zainal Zulhelmi of Johor (84 points).
Chun Kiat retained his men’s elite individual pursuit title on Friday. Men elite
Points race: 1. Zainal Zulhelmi (Joh) 84, 2. Mohd Saari Amri (Joh) 60, 3. Lim Chun Kiat (Sab) 56.
Keirin: 1. Mohd Shah Firdaus Sahrom (Joh), 2. Fadhil Zonis (Sel), 3. Mohd Ridwan Sahrom (Joh).
Men junior
Omnium: 1. Mohd Hafiq Jafri (Mel) 140, 2. Mohd Syawal Mazlin (Prk) 127, 3. Mohd Faheem Razen (Joh) 125.
Women elite
Points race: 1. Nur Syafika Kadir (Joh) 26, 2. Nurqadrina Emylia (Sel) 20, 3. Ezzatie Fifiyana (Ter) 19. Keirin: 1. Anis Amira Rosidi (Per), 2. Nurul Aliana Syafika Azizan (Pen), 3. Nurul Izzah Izzati (Ked).
Women junior
Omnium: 1. Ngo Ci Hui (Prk) 151, 2. Khairunnisa Aleeya (Joh) 133, 3. Anis Natasya (Ked) 120.
