Pint-sized wonder: Nyo Ci Hui waving the Jalur Gemilang after winning gold in the junior scratch final.
PETALING JAYA: After almost 10 years, Malaysia now have another rainbow jersey holder in the junior ranks of the Asian Track Cycling Championships.
Nyo Ci Hui put up a stunning performance to claim gold in the junior scratch final at the Indira Gandhi Velodrome in New Delhi yesterday.
Her feat came hot on the heels of Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri’s stunning win in the 500m time trial event on Sunday.
The 18-year-old Ci Hui rode a blistering pace in the 7.5km race to beat nine other competitors.
Japan’s Mizuki Ikeda took silver while Uzbekistan’s Sofiya Karimova got the bronze.
Ci Hui is the first Malaysian winner in the junior ranks of the Asian meet since Firdaus Zonis sprinted to a treble in the 1km time trial, sprint and keirin in the 2013 edition, also in the Indian capital.
Ci Hui, who is from Perak, did not expect to make such a big impression.
“I still cannot digest that I am bringing home a gold medal as this is my first Asian championship.
“It’s better than my previous experience in the world junior championships in Egypt last year when I broke the junior individual pursuit national record (2:33.075).”
There were more cheers at the velodrome when Fadhil Zonis retained his silver medal won in the previous edition in 2019 in the men’s elite 1km time trial.
He ain’t heavy: Fadhil Zonis (left) defended his silver medal in the men’s elite 1km event won by Yuta Obara of Japan. Ronaldo Singh Laitonjam of India got the bronze.
Fadhil clocked 1:01.639, which is almost a second off his current national record of 1:00.305 set at the world championships in Berlin in 2020.
Yuta Obara of Japan won the gold in 1:01.118 while India’s Ronaldo Singh Laitonjam (1:01.798) came in third.
“Lose some to gain some more. I’m happy to get two silvers (also in the team sprint) but my job is not over. Will come back stronger next year,” said Fadhil.
Malaysia surrendered the men’s individual sprint title won by Azizulhasni Awang in the previous championship in 2019 with youngster Ridwan Sahrom going down to South Korea’s Kang Seo-jun in the first round of the knockout.
Ridwan was earlier placed eighth from 19 riders in the qualifying round after clocking 10.158.
Ridwan’s elder brother Mohd Shah Firdaus Sahrom, who took silver in the keirin on Monday, sat out the event as he was unwell.
The women’s individual sprint event saw both Anis Amira Rosidi and Nurul Izzah bowing out in the quarter-finals.
The junior category saw Zulfahmi Aiman Zulkarnain also bringing home the silver in the scratch race.
Kim Hwa-rang of South Korea won the gold while India’s Birjit Yumnam finished third.
In the women’s elite sprint, Malaysia’s challenge ended with Anis and Nurul going down to South Koreans Cho Sun-young and Park Ji-hae in their respective quarter-final battles.
In their opening round race, Anis and Nurul defeated Bangladesh’s Sampati Biswas Aurthi and Tithi Biswas respectively.
