ATC 2018: Azizulhasni bags silver in sprint event

NILAI: National cycling ace, Mohd Azizulhasni Awang was once again left disappointed in his own backyard after managing to secure only silver in the men's individual sprint event at the Asian Track Championships (ATC) 2018.
The 29-year-old, also known as the 'Pocket Rocket Man', hit the track at the National Velodrome here tonight with the mission of defending the Asian sprint king title he garnered in last year's edition but had to settle as first runner-up after losing to Kazunari Watanabe of Japan.
When met by reporters after the race, the Terengganu-born athlete admitted his disappointment but stressed the defeat was due to the higher gear used by the Japanese rider.
"I am disappointed by the loss but I have done my best and will follow all the strategies as planned by the coach. However, Watanabe got a little bit of advantage to accelerate faster because of the higher gear being used," he said.
South Korea's Im Chaebin was second runner-up for the event.
Prior to this, Mohd Azizulhasni missed another gold medal after only securing bronze in the keirin event last Saturday.
However, he managed redemption after creating a new Asian record in the men's elite sprint by clocking 9.774 seconds during the qualifying round.
Meanwhile, the national squad can also heave a sigh of relief after bagging a gold medal via Zulhemi Zainal, who clocked 3:24.985s in the men's junior 3km individual pursuit beating Kazakhstan's Maxim Gridchin (silver) and Hun Jang of South Korea (bronze).
Another junior cyclist, Alif Aiman Safuan obtained silver in the sprint event after he lost to India's Esow Esow.
Andrey Chugay of Kazakhstan took home the bronze in the event. — Bernama