Izzah and Fadhil propel home states to sprint golds in National C’ships

PETALING JAYA: National riders Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri and Mohd Fadhil Zonis powered Kedah and Selangor to victories in the team sprint event on the first day of the National Championships.

Izzah joined forces with younger sister Nabilah and Fitrah Shaari to help Kedah retain the women’s team sprint gold for a fifth consecutive edition at the National Velodrome in Nilai.

The trio clocked 50.912s in the final to clinch the win, finishing ahead of Selangor’s Yong Ann Tung, Yong Ann Yii and Yeong Zhen Yi (52.626s).

Terengganu’s Dahlia Hasyim, Ameera Zahiruddin and Nur Aerin Mohd Adni (53.181s) claimed the bronze medal.

Penang’s Intan Nur Idrina Abdul Razak, Nur Umairah Razak and Aliana Azizan (55.630s) were fourth overall.

Izzah was happy to help Kedah retain their title.

“We knew it would be a tough competition this year as both Selangor and Penang have a few national riders in their teams while I’m the only one in the Kedah squad,’’ she said.

“We were able to clock 50 seconds which I consider to be a good result for us, especially as Nabilah and Fitrah are actually endurance riders rather than track riders.”

Nabilah has established herself as a strong road rider in recent seasons while Fitrah has enjoyed similar success in mountain bike racing.

The men’s team sprint event saw Fadhil set up Selangor, also comprising Darwish Zarin and Yu Jing Liang, to win in 46.847s.

Defending champions Johor (Faris Mohd Farook, Ahmad Daniel Ahmad Rifaiee, Ahmad Zharif Ahmad Nazri) came in a close second on 46.971s while Negri Sembilan (Luqman Ali Badrun, Afiq Farezal, Zafrul Mohd Syukry) were third (49.349s).

Fadhil admitted Selangor were slightly fortunate to win the gold this year.

“Johor were missing (injured national rider) Mohd Ridwan Sahrom, so we fully used the opportunity to recapture the team sprint title which we have not won in a few years now,” said Fadhil.

“There was no pressure on us. A lot of the boys are gearing up for the Malaysia Games (Sukma), so we just went out there and gave it our best.”