Hot pursuit in Thailand

Make us proud: Malaysia will be sending Mohd Fadhil Zonis to compete in the men’s team sprint, keirin as well as the individual sprint events.

PETALING JAYA: The cyclists’ road to SEA Games glory starts at the Track Asia Cup in Suphanburi, Thailand, next week.

A keirin spot at the SEA Games in December is at stake for the riders when they compete at the Track Asia Cup as national track cycling team head coach Harnizam Basri is selecting the second rider to race the keirin.

Harnizam will pick the second rider for the SEA Games based on their performances at the Asia Cup.

The squad will leave for the Asia Cup, which is a UCI ranked Class 1 event, on Monday.

Mohd Shah Firdaus Sahrom and Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri, who are the only cyclists under the Road to Gold programme, will not be competing at the Asia Cup though.

“We have decided not to send Shah and Izzah as we want them to focus on preparations for the World Championships in Santiago, Chile (Oct 22-26),” said Harnizam.

“We will be sending Mohd Fadhil Zonis, Mohd Ridwan Sahrom and Akmal Jusena Nazimi for the Asia Cup.

“They will compete in the men’s team sprint, keirin as well as the individual sprint events.

“We will be choosing the second rider for the SEA Games keirin based on their performances at the Asia Cup, so they will have to compete with each other for that slot. It has to be earned on merit.

“For the women’s team, we have selected Anis Amira Rosidi, Nurul Aliana Syafika Azizan and Nur Alyssa Mohd Farid and they will compete in the same events as the men’s in Suphanburi.

“We want to gauge our performances in both the men’s and women’s team sprint events, especially as our men’s team will be competing in the team sprint event at the SEA Games.

“It will also be Aliana’s first international competition since coming back. She has been doing well in training,” added Harnizam.

Aliana spent months recovering after suffering a fractured rib and concussion after crashing in a local race in October last year.

Shah Firdaus has also been on the comeback trail as he has been battling tendonitis in his right knee since February but has shown improvement in recent months.

The men’s keirin and men’s team sprint are the only sprint discipline events that have been included for the Thailand SEA Games this year.

Malaysia though are hopeful of dominating the track cycling events, which offers five gold medals.