No ACC-tion for Shah Firdaus as he still needs time to regain physical strength

PETALING JAYA: Olympic keirin finalist Mohd Shah Firdaus Sahrom (pic) is not going to see action in the Asian Track Cycling Championships (ACC) in the Philippines in March despite making a surprise appearance in the second leg of the President’s Cup in Nilai earlier this month.

Track cycling head coach Harnizam Basri explained that the decision was made to give Shah Firdaus time to regain his physical strength after undergoing surgery on his right knee last year.

“His fitness level is still not at an optimal level for a high intensity competition like the Asian Championships.

“Shah has just started cycling again. It was his first ride after getting the green light to train.

“His level is currently less than 80%,” said Harnizam.

He added that the 30-year-old racer lost a lot of muscle strength, especially in his right leg after the surgery, making it difficult to prepare him to get ready in a short period of time.

“In these 10 weeks, he has lost a lot of strength. The right leg which was operated on before is really small, unbalanced. The left is about 70%, the right is 30%.”

It will be risky to bring Shah Firdaus in too early and the better focus is to prepare for the final round of the UCI Track World Cup series, which will be held at the National Velodrome in Nilai from April 24-26.

The first leg takes place in Perth, Australia, from March 6-8, followed by the second leg in Hong Kong from April 17-19 before it’s Malaysia’s turn to host the prestigious meet for the first time.

“Shah Firdaus’ current training programme is more focused on recovery and improving muscle strength to ensure he is back to full strength before competing on the world stage.’’

The Johor-born rider made a surprise appearance in the men’s keirin event in the second round of the President’s Cup two weeks ago but did not finish on the podium.

He underwent surgery on his right knee in October.

Shah Firdaus, one of two track cyclists under the Road to Gold programme, is expected to feature in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July and the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in September.