M'sian Rider Josiah Takes Malaysian Sprint Event Challenge To London Olympics

KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 (Bernama) -- The first exco meeting of the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (PKBM) has decided that senior track rider Josiah Ng will carry the nation's challenge in the sprint event at the Olympic Games in London. "The position of the track rider was discussed in the first meeting of the PKBM exco on Thursday. "We have decided to name Josiah for the men's sprint event and Mohd Azizulhasni Awang as back-up rider," said PKBM deputy president Naim Mohamad. "For the Keirin, we bank on Mohd Azizulhasni, and Josiah as replacement rider," he said. Naim said he had contacted cycling squad chief coach John Beasley on the matter and the latter had agreed. He was met by reporters after Malaysian contingent head to the Olympics, Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid, held a meeting with highway rider Mohd Adiq Husainie Othman in Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur, on Friday. Naim said: "We need to plan and strategise it very carefully. Just in case something happens, at least, we've two riders. If we follow the earlier format, we can send two riders for one event but now the format has changed. "If we only send one rider and something happens to him, we will lose all opportunities, whilst we have qualified on merit. "We will discuss in greater detail when we report at the SportS Village on July 23." With the decision, Naim said Josiah and Azizulhasni, who had won gold medals in the keirin and 200m sprint events at the Asian Track Championships in 2008, would be given the accreditation cards to perform in London. He said Malaysia was given two slots for the highway event. "For the highway event, we only got two slots and we cannot name three people. It is not allowed by the organisers. If there's any eventuality, a (Malaysian) rider who's on the organiser's list (Mohd Zamri Salleh) could be the replacement," he added. The cycling squad to the London Olympics next month comprises Mohd Azizulhasni, Josiah and Fatehah Mustafa for the track event and Mohd Adiq Husainie Othman and Amir Mustafa Rusli for the highway event. -- BERNAMA