PETALING JAYA: Former world keirin champion Azizulhasni Awang is back in the top 10 of the men's elite sprint world rankings.
The Commonwealth Games and Asian Games keirin champion moved up nine spots to No. 6 in the latest UCI men's elite sprint world rankings.
He now has 3,970 points after collecting 500 points each from both his keirin and individual sprint performances – he placed ninth in both events – at the World Championships in Shanghai last week.
The world meet carries significant weightage in the world rankings.
The Pocket Rocketman is keen to build on his performances this season.
"On Aug 28, I had written a long post and explained my target, predictions and possibility of my world ranking rising to at least the top eight in the world," he said.
"To qualify for the Olympics, you cannot just fill your name in a form and send it to the organisers. You have to qualify on merit via the UCI rankings.
"Following the recent world championships, my ranking has gone up to No. 6 in the world. This is just the start."
Azizul explained that to qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, riders must rank within the top 13 in the world if the nation does not qualify for the team sprint event.
Qualifying for the team sprint earns a nation an additional two slots for the keirin and sprint.
Thus it makes it much tougher for the cyclist to secure qualification if his country is not among the top eight nations for the team sprint.
Despite his advancing years, the 38-year-old has had a stellar season which saw him winning two keirin gold and two individual sprint bronze medals in the UCI World Cup series – he was crowned the overall keirin champion.
He also won the keirin title at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games as well as keirin gold and individual sprint bronze at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games two weeks ago.
Mohd Shah Firdaus Sahrom, who is on the comeback trail after undergoing knee surgery late last year, is the second highest ranked Malaysian rider at No. 63 (1,359 points) with his brother Mohd Ridwan Sahrom being the next highest ranked Malaysian at No. 77 (1,191 points).
In the women's elite sprint rankings, Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri is the highest ranked Malaysian at No. 12 (3,466 points) after moving up three spots, followed by youngsters Nur Alyssa Mohd Farid (No. 21, 2,922 points) and Yong Ann Tung (No. 112, 727 points).
