Shah Firdaus Sahrom
PETALING JAYA: Mohd Shah Firdaus Sahrom has reached the Olympic men's keirin final, thanks to the disqualification of Asian Games double champion Ota Kaiya of Japan, at the Saint-Quentinen-Yvelines Velodrome on Sunday (Aug 11).
The Birmingham Commonwealth Games bronze medal winner Shah Firdaus thought he missed out after finishing fourth in the second semi-final heat but was seen celebrating with both arms raised shortly after he was promoted to third following Kaiya's relegation for an infringement.
In what was a tough second semi-final heat, Matthew Richardson of Australia came out tops ahead of Harrie Lavreysen of Holland.
Richarson had settled for silver behind Lavreysen in the sprint final earlier this week.
The top three finishers from both semi-final heats advance to the final.
It's certainly a second Olympic appearance to cherish for Shah Firdaus as he has followed in the footsteps of Azizulhasni Awang and Josiah Ng in managing to qualify for an Olympic final.
Josiah was the first to achieve the feat in Athens in 2004 and it was Azizul who then took over from London 2012 to Tokyo 2021.
Shah Firdaus will compete in the men's keirin final at 7.32pm Malaysian time.
