Disappointing: Azizulhasni Awang in action during the keirin event. — Bernama
THE Olympic gold medal wait for Malaysia is set to continue following the disqualification of former world keirin champion and medal hopeful Azizulhasni Awang from his pet event in the Olympic Games last night.
It was a big blow to Malaysia’s hopes of seeing a glorious finish from Azizul in the event that he had always excelled in the past but the 36-year-old found himself kicked out of the competition for overtaking the derny before it pulled off the track in the first round heat at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome.
Australia’s Matthew Glaetzer (9.876s) and Jeffrey Hoogland (9.887s) of Holland qualified directly for the keirin quarter-finals by finishing as the top two riders in the heat.
The country’s hopes now rest on Mohd Shah Firdaus Sahrom who still has a chance to make a comeback in the repechage.
Shah Firdaus failed in his bid to finish in the top two in his heat when he finished behind Poland’s Rudyk Mateusz and Paul Nicholas of Trinidad and Tobago.
Shah Firdaus was later relegated for a technical infringement and will need to be in the top two again to go through to the last eight. Malaysia were banking on Azizul to deliver its first Olympic gold with the Paris Games expected to be his last.
Azizul was the silver medallist in Tokyo three years ago and bronze in his pet event in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
The Paris stint was his fifth Olympics but it will be the one to forget for Azizul.
TODAY
CYCLING
Keirin quarter-finals: 5.29pm
Semi-finals: 6.29pm
Final: 7.23pm
