Malaysian Cyclists End First Day Empty Handed

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9 (Bernama) - The Malaysian track cycling squad failed to win medals on the first day of 32nd Asian Cycling Championships (ACC) and 19th Asian Junior Cycling Championships here. Five gold medals were up for grabs on the opening day of ACC at Kuala Lumpur Velodrome in Cheras, here Wednesday. In the men's individual pursuit and women's elite events, Wan Syazwan Afiq Wan Shahril Anwar and Nurul Sakinah Abd Karim finished 10th and 8th place respectively. The men's elite pursuit gold was won by Alireza Haghi of Iran while Maki Tabata of Japan won gold in the women's elite pursuit category. Malaysian cyclist Zahraa Anuawar only managed 7th place in the women's elit points race. A tactical mistake cost Malaysian junior cyclists the bronze medal in the individual pursuit event, ending up in 4th place In determining the bronze, Noor Azian Maslin Sazali lost to Lee Tai Ling of Taiwan in the women's junior while Muhammad Firdaus Suardi lost to Kohei Suzuki of Japan in the men's category. "Both (Noor Azian and Muhammad Firdaus) are our medals hope at this championship. However, they were too cautious at the start and trailed far behind. "They saw my signal to sprint but were slow to act. They got the strategy wrong or else we were 50-50 to win a medal," said national junior coach Suod Hussain. However, he still has high hopes that the junior cyclists can perform their best in the coming events. "I hope they can do well in the team pursuit on Thursday. This year's challenge will come from Hong Kong, South Korea, Kazakhstan and Iran," he said. Malaysia is banking on Mohd Firdaus, Mohd Faiz Ibrahim, Mohd Firdaus Abd Karim and Loh Gi Meng in the team pursuit event. --BERNAMA