Too much of a strain

Rough ride: Azizulhasni Awang is down with an adductor strain injury which he suffered during training.

PETALING JAYA: Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Azizulhasni Awang is down with an adductor strain injury and has pulled out of this week’s second leg of the Track Nations Cup in Cairo.

The 35-year-old will also miss the third and final leg of the Track Nations Cup in Milton, Canada, next month.

Azizul announced his withdrawal on social media yesterday, stating his decision was made on the doctor’s advice after sustaining an injury while training.

Azizul, who had corrective heart surgery last April, made a superb start to the year to take silver in the keirin in the first leg of the Track Nations Cup in Jakarta last month.

“We don’t want to risk making it worse by competing here in Cairo, so we have made a decision to start the recovery and get him ready for our next Class 1 event in Belgium mid-April,” said track head coach John Beasley.

The outing in Belgium will be crucial for Azizul to pick up valuable ranking points to ensure qualification for the World Track Cycling Championships in Glasgow in August.

It is the performance at the world meet that counts as it offers the highest ranking points for qualification to the Paris Olympics next year.

Azizul’s place in the individual keirin and sprint in Cairo this week will be taken up by Mohd Fadhil Zonis.

Fadhil was scheduled to ride the team sprint with Mohd Shah Firdaus Sahrom and Mohd Ridwan Sahrom late yesterday.

In Azizul’s absence, Beasley hoped that the others, especially Shah Firdaus, can hold their own and go the distance against a world class field.

Shah Firdaus also reached the keirin final in the opening Track Nations Cup in Jakarta last month but crashed out on the final lap after clashing with New Zealand’s Sam Dakin.

“Shah has had a few little setbacks the past couple of months and his form has been up and down, and because of those issues, it’s only been the last two weeks that he has been able to train and get back to a normal training load.

“But in saying that, Shah is a very good athlete and he showed some of the talent he has (in Jakarta).

“It would have been his first ever podium at this level if it wasn’t for the crash.

“But that’s keirin, you have to be tough and brave to want to race this event.”