Living up to his nickname: Shah Firdaus has shown he is a fighter on many occasions and coach John Beasley has given the go-ahead for the cyclist to board the plane for Adelaide today with his teammates.
PETALING JAYA: They don’t call Mohd Shah Firdaus Sahrom ‘’the Terminator’’ for nothing.
The 28-year-old track cyclist may be bruised and battered but he will go on to compete in the opening round of the Track Nations Cup in Adelaide, Australia, next weekend.
The double Hangzhou Asian Games bronze medallist will join Azizulhasni Awang to race in the individual sprint and keirin.
Shah Firdaus’ eligibility to ride in the season’s opening round was in question after he suffered a freak training injury at the National Velodrome in Nilai on Tuesday.
His bicycle tyre burst while he was doing speed training. Shah Firdaus not only ended up with shoulder and thigh injuries but also a swollen ankle, making it difficult for him to walk.
It is surely not a comfortable thought for Shah Firdaus as suiting up with the skinsuit will be a problem if his skin wounds do not recover well.
But Shah Firdaus has shown he is a fighter on many occasions and head coach John Beasley has given the go ahead for the cyclist to board the plane for Adelaide today with his teammates.
“I am taking him to Adelaide and he should be fine to race next weekend. He is a very fit young man whose injuries will heal fast,” confirmed Beasley.
“Shah won’t be at his best though but we will use this competition now to prepare for the Asian Track Cycling Cham-pionships and the next round of the Track Nations Cup in Hong Kong.’’
The Asian meet will take place in New Delhi, India, from Feb 25-28 and will see Shah Firdaus carry the challenge in the absence of Azizul, who has decided to skip his title defence to focus on preparing for the Paris Olympics.
Hong Kong will host the second leg of the Track Nations Cup from March 15-17.
It is crucial to compete in the three-legged Track Nations Cup as ranking points are up for grabs in the second phase of qualification for the Paris Olympics.
If the Malaysian cyclists do reasonably well in the first two Track Nations Cup in Adelaide and Hong Kong, then they can afford to skip the final leg in Milton, Canada, from April 12-14.
The qualifiers for the Paris Olympics for track cycling will be confirmed right after the Milton competition.
Shah Firdaus clinched silver in men’s keirin at the Track Nations Cup in Cairo, Egypt, in March last year before bagging silver in the same event at the International Belgian Track Meet in Ghent the following month.
