Adibah and Co break national record twice en route to gold

Riding with the wind: Johor’s (from left) Khairunissa Aleeya Saifulnizam, Siti Nur Adibah Akma Mohd Fuad, Nur Syafika Natasha Kadir and Noormastura Norman celebrate after winning the gold.

THERE’s more to come as Johor cyclists looked set to run over Terengganu as the new powerhouse in the Malaysia Games (Sukma).

Siti Nur Adibah Akma Mohd Fuad achieved the exceptional feat of winning in both road and track disciplines after she anchored the women’s pursuit quartet to break the national record twice yesterday.

The 23-year-old combined with Khairunissa Aleeya Saifulnizam, Normastura Norman and Nur Syafika Natasha Kadir to clock 4:47.317 in the final at the National Velodrome in Nilai.

They had earlier posted 4:52.955 in the qualifying rounds to smash the old record of 4:57.898 set by the national team in the Asian Cycling Championship in 2018.

Terengganu’s Ezzatie Fifiyana Shazwanie Shaiful Hisham, Nor Aisyah Munirah Che Ramli, Nurul Najwa Mohd Fauzi, Siti Nur Alia Mansor settled for silver with 4:49.177 while Kedah’s Anis Natasya Ahmad, Nur Fitrah Shaari, Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri and Phi Kun Pan took bronze (4:57.269).

“I think Johor riders can further improve on the national record in future. Khairunissa and Normastura can still compete in the next Sukma and they have loads of talent and potential.

“Johor had to wait four years for this and I guess we just went full gas to be sure of things.”

The 2020 Games was cancelled due to Covid-19.

“We had targeted the gold but were never pressured to break the record.

“The coaches only told us to improve on our timing, so to break it twice is something to really be proud of,” said Adibah.

Adibah shone in the road events in Sendayan last week, winning the individual, team as well as the individual time trial.

“This will be my last Sukma and I’m so glad that all my efforts had paid off.”

There was more joy for Johor as Mohd Ridwan Sahrom blazed to the men’s sprint gold.

Ridwan, the younger brother of Mohd Shah Firdaus, beat Kedah’s Mohd Fariz Haikal Mohd Kadir in two heats in the final.

In the women’s category, Kedah’s national cyclist Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri claimed the title after beating Penang’s Nurul Aliana Syafiqah Azizan also in two heats.