National junior cycling coach Zamani takes his expertise to Melaka

Attaboy!: Junior cycling coach Zamani Mustarudin with Mohd Hafiq Mohd Jafri, who won the men’s junior omnium silver medal at the 2022 Asian Cycling Championships national junior cycling.

PETALING JAYA: Zamani Mustaruddin will be using his experience to produce new talents for Melaka after his contract as coach for the national junior cycling squad was not renewed.

Zamani, who is a former national cyclist, has already accepted an offer to coach the Melaka cycling team for this year and will take advantage of the opportunity given to make the cyclists from the state a force to be reckoned with.

Zamani served as coach for the national junior cycling team for 12 years but his contract was not renewed by the National Sports Council (NSC) at the end of last year.

“With the experience, skills and expertise I have gained over the years, I will take charge of the Melaka cycling team after this,” said Zamani.

“I will use this opportunity to bring up Melaka cycling and identify new talents to be groomed.

“Melaka have good riders who are coming up like Zulfahmi Aiman and Mohd Hafiq Mohd Jafri, who won the men’s junior omnium silver medal at the 2022 Asian Championships in New Delhi.

“It is not impossible to find more talented riders who can follow in the footsteps of the existing riders.

“My target is for Melaka to be feared by other state teams,” he said.

The Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) have roped in former national rider Adiq Husainie Othman as the replacement for Zamani.

Adiq is an Olympian who represented the country in the 2012 London Games.

Zamani said he accepted the decision although he was reluctant to leave the team that he had helped built, which had gone on to achieve various successes in tournaments at the national and international levels.

“It’s only natural as I have served with the national juniors for sometime. I will cherish my achievements with the junior squad over the last few years,” he added.

One of the notable milestones includes youngster Nyo Ci Hui winning the gold in the women’s junior scratch race event and Hafiq bagging the silver in men’s junior omnium at the Asian meet in India in 2022.