I’m Back!

I’m back in the blogosphere, although still pretty busy training for World Champs in March.

So much has happened since my last blog entry and this is officially my first entry of the year. Was in Beijing last month, it was a pretty good race. Went back to Malaysia briefly, caught up with family, friends and the media.

Caught up with Astro Awani, a Malaysian TV channel and we recorded at the rock-climbing centre at One Utama.

Date: 9 February 2010 Tuesday
Time: 1130.pm
Channel: Channel 501 Astro Awani

Interviewed by Dino Omar.

A Snapshot of Pro-Keirin

Hello all, on behalf of Josiah, sorry for his lack of updates. I’d like to introduce myself as Josiah’s fiancee and also his PR Manager. Here’s my story:

Miles apart, I’m missing my soul-mate in Shizuoka, Japan. Earlier today, I was able to chat and webcam with Josiah on a long online date as he shared his keirin experience with me. Today, I’ll share with you what Josiah goes through in the keirin series.

“Keirin” is a track cycling event originated in Japan, where cyclists sprint for victory. There will be a motorbike pacing the riders for about five laps before they sprint in the final round. During the 5-lap pacing, they will position themselves and identify their tactics. There are rules and regulations to adhere to. The event was founded in 1948 and became an Olympic sport in 2000. It remains as a betting sport in Japan (just like horse-racing!).

Japan Keirin Association (JKA) was formed to establish a uniform system of standards for the sport, since there are so much rules and regulations. There is a difference for this betting sport as compared to the international one at Olympics or World Championships.

Aspiring professional keirin riders in Japan compete for entrance into the Japan Keirin School. The 10 percent of applicants who are accepted then undergo a strict, 15-hours per day, training regimen. Those who pass the graduation exams, and are approved by the JKA become eligible for professional keirin races in Japan.

This year, the JKA opened up applications for keirin riders all over the world for this six-month programme from April till September 2009. Only five were selected. Josiah was the lucky one from Malaysia to be selected alongside international riders Teun Mulder, Matthew Crampton, Shane Perkins and Ross Edgar.

I remember Josiah filling up tons of paperwork for submission of entry throughout the process. After selection, the riders have to go through the Japan Keirin School and take a test to update themselves about the keirin style for this betting sport series.

The dorm at Shizuoka overlooks Mount Fiji. So beautiful, it looks like a photo I would have lifted off Google Images.

Prior to racing, all riders have to undergo a test.

Schedule has to be adhered to. All keirin riders train together.

Existing Japanese riders are seen introducing the five international riders.

Introduction profile board.

The keirin bicycles are parked at the velodrome.

Josiah had his profile photo taken. He insisted on making a suit specially from Bespoked just for this keirin series. Efficiency and presentation are very important in the Japanese culture.

I really love this tandem bike. It’s for mummy daddy and little one behind!

I seriously did consider a trishaw for my wedding.

Josiah was at a lecture at the Japan Keirin School.

Such cute bedroom slippers at the dorm! Haha.

The Japanese keirin riders. I think they all look the same! Actually, they looked like Kenny Sia when he went botak for charity.

All decked in their different attires and colours. Josiah got to wear his surname (Ng). Such vibrant colours, they look like teletubbies!

That white jacket is for body protection, what they wear inside their jerseys.

Sprinters are generally bigger in size, not to be compared with road cyclist Lance Armstrong.

The riders trying out the track. Rain or shine, they still ride. It’s a pretty rough game, high risk of collision and injuries. Josiah said it’s better to crash while it rains, apparently less damaging. Oh goshhhh!

One day he could be number 5, next day he could be 6 and in different colours.

Just look at how huge the helmet is!

Fancy frog legs, anyone?

How about a Michelin tyre? This huge dude was apparently a former wrestling champion and turned to track cycling. He is the biggest dude in the entire keirin school.

All of a sudden, they invited Josiah to arm wrestle with him.

Josiah struggled for 1.5 minutes before losing to the Mr. Former-Wrestler.

Moving on to the bikes, Josiah getting his bike checked at Nagasawa’s.

Such a beautiful bike, big wheels, looks rather thing but lovely!

Imagine this.

Above: Josiah Ng and Rizal Tisin.

See, you can compare their body armour and bicycles from the teletubbies’ photos earlier with this one at normal races; World Championships and etc.

There’s so much to learn about cycling. I wonder if all these cyclists excelled at Physics subject in school. All sportsmen for that matter.

Proud Of My Team-Mates

Malaysia welcomes home track team

By Jean-François Quénet in Kuala Lumpur

After the performances of Malaysia’s riders at last week’s UCI Track World Championships in Pruskow, Poland, interest in their home country has increased significantly. Approximately one hundred fans and friends, plus a large gathering of reporters waited for the arrival of passengers from Amsterdam at Kuala Lumpur international airport at 3pm yesterday, as banners greeted the national team.

Azizul Asni Awang’s silver in the individual sprint and Rizal Tisin’s bronze in the 1000m time trial was cause for celebration, with a function at the Malaysian National Sports Council in Bukit Jalil – also the headquarters for Le Tour de Langkawi – awaiting the successful duo.

“This is the first time Malaysia has returned with medals from the cycling world championships,” said Minister for Youth and Sports, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob. “History has been made and now we know that not only [athletes in] badminton can target a gold medal at the next Olympic Games in London in 2012 but [those in] cycling also can do it.”

With cycling (plus archery and badminton) identified as one of the three sports likely to Malaysia Olympic medals, funding has been allocated accordingly. The Minister also announced that Azizul and Rizal will receive an incentive reward of 20 000 and 10 000 Malaysian Ringgits respectively (approximately US$5,550 and US$2,770) for their achievements.

Malaysia’s Australian coach John Beasley and Josiah Ng, who finished sixth in the team sprint in Poland (a significantly improved performance), were also welcomed as national heroes.

“My co-operation started with Josiah, who was looking for a coach and came to me in Melbourne,” recalled Beasley. “After the Commonwealth Games in 2006, I took care of the whole Malaysian team. That was the breath of fresh air I was looking for and now I’ll spend more time in this country because there is a huge potential of development at many levels,” he added.

“BMX and MTB are also a concern now,” continued Beasley. “On the track, the next target is a World’s gold medal. The results in Poland have shown that it is a very realistic goal, especially in the kilo.”

Ng was delighted to see the excitement now surrounding Malaysian cycling. “Hollywood couldn’t have written a better script”, said the Philippines-born Malaysian who grew up in California. “It’s hard to say that it’s a fairytale because it’s only the beginning of the story. More great things are yet to come from our country,” he said.

“What was done in Poland will hopefully inspire thousands of Malaysian kids as much as I inspired Rizal when he came and watched me riding a world cup event in Ipoh nine years ago – and now he’s a medallist at the world championship. One generation on and it’s time for other kids to perform.”

That next generation could be inspired by these latest events, and some of them were also part of the function in Bukit Jalil, sharing Azizul and Rizal’s joy. The Malaysian track squad will continue to celebrate at home before returning to training in Melbourne with the aim of taking more medals at the next Asian Games in China and Commonwealth Games in India next year.

“Nothing less than gold will be our aim,” said Ng. “Hopefully we’ll remain the dominant team in Asia as we were at these world championships.”

Stronger sprint team going for top four spot at world meet

PETALING JAYA: If all goes well, expect Malaysia to create a ripple on the opening night of competition in the World Track Championships in Pruszkow, Poland, tomorrow.

The trio of Azizul Hasni Awang, Josiah Ng and Rizal Tisin will ride in the team sprint for the first time since they blazed to a national record of 44.725 en route to a seventh-place finish in their Olympic debut in Beijing last August.

However, Josiah is not only expecting the national record to tumble but he also feels that they are capable of breaking into the top four for the first time.

Eyeing a flying start: Josiah Ng (left), Mohd Rizal Tisin and Azizul Hasni Awang (inset) will participate in the sprint team event at the World Track Championships in Poland.

Eyeing a flying start: Josiah Ng (left), Mohd Rizal Tisin and Azizul Hasni Awang (inset) will participate in the sprint team event at the World Track Championships in Poland.

The top two teams after qualifying get into a race to decide the gold medallist. And the next two fastest teams contest for the bronze.

“We have come a long way since the Olympics. We are stronger and we have been knocking off one tenth of a second each time in our lap runs,” said Josiah in a telephone interview yesterday.

“I think we will have a new national record. In fact, we will be able to get into the fight for medals if we do a 44-second low.

“Britain are ahead of the rest of the world and they should be up there while France and Holland should be fighting to see who reach the final.

“Then, it’s Germany, Holland, Australia, Japan, China and us. It is going to be very close but we have a shot if everything is done right.”

France edged Britain in the last world championships in Manchester but were beaten into second place at the Beijing Olympics.

If Malaysia get into the medal stages for the team sprint, it will be quite a feat.

However, Josiah said that he would not be surprised, especially when his team-mates have showed remarkable progress over the last two years in sprint races.

Malaysia achieved their best-ever finish at the Asian Championships in Japan last year by taking silver but the high point was achieving first-ever qualification for the Olympics.

The trio of Mohd Edrus Yunos, Josiah and Rizal finished fifth in the final leg of the Track World Cup in Beijing in January to guarantee a slot for the country in the team sprint at the world championships.

Although Malaysia lack an experienced starter, Josiah is confident that Azizul will fit into the role well.

Josiah will be the second rider while Rizal, the Asian record holder in 1km time trial, will anchor the team.

“Azizul is the best all-rounder while Rizal is just phenomenal as last rider. On my part, I have to improve on my second lap and hopefully, we can achieve our best finish,” said Josiah.

For the record, Malaysia were placed last out of 15 teams in the last championships in Manchester.

That came about after Edrus botched his start when the wheels stuck on the blocks.

I’m going to Japan!

Excited Ng selected for Japanese keirin
By Greg Johnson

Malaysian track cyclist Josiah Ng is among five foreigners to be selected for races in this year’s Japanese keirin series. The rider is looking forward to returning to Japan, where he has contested the series on two previous occasions.

“I’m really excited about going back to Japan,” said Ng. “I’m not sure why I was picked. I guess they really like me and my style of riding.”

Ng will head to Japan for the series on April 14. In 2005 Ng claimed three victories at the Japan International Keirin Invitational.

Other riders invited to compete include Great Britons Ross Edgar and Matt Crampton, Dutch rider Teun Mulder and Frenchman Mikael Bourgain.

Keirin racing in Japan is a massive betting sport, with some 1.5 trillion Yen reportedly bet annually. As a result riders are subject to strict conditions, with Nihon Jitensha Shinkokai (Japanese Keirin Association) approval required for any equipment used in the races.

Source: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2009/feb09/feb24news

Beijing, Here I Am!

I just arrived to Bejing a few hours ago. I knew it would be cold but was not really prepared for the -11c temperature that greeted us. We arrived at the same time as the Aussie team and we were all in agreement that coming from 38c in Melbourne yesterday to -11c is a shock to our bodies. Luckily we’re racing indoors but I hear that even in the track it’s not that warm, about 16c.  Hopefully they will turn up the heat come race day.
 
I’ve been feeling extremely well these past few weeks in training. Last month, flu and cough got the better part of me.

The cough and congestion lasted for about a month which put a damper on my training. I’m glad to finally get over that and can really appreciate being healthy again.

I think that I can make some good results here in Beijing and of course the idea is to do better than I did in Melbourne.
 
From seeing the roster, the strongest teams in the sprint disciplines will be the French, followed by the Germans. Notably absent are the British sprint team. The French have come out here in full force, bringing their “A” squad which includes Beijing Olympic Games silver medallists, Gregory Bouge, Mikael Bourgain, and Kevin Sireau. The sole representative for Australia (in the sprint and keirin) is Shane Perkins.
 
This is the fourth round out of five world cups held this season and judging from the roster, the depth is by far the deepest. I’m definately looking forward to some good racing this weekend.

Updated Schedule & Results

Click here: http://josiahng.wordpress.com/schedule-results/

Carpe Diem (Cyberspot, The Malay Mail)

Josiah on Cyberspot, Malay Mail

Cycling: Josiah wins his third successive race in Australia

by Lim Teik Huat

KUALA LUMPUR: Josiah Ng chose to race instead of taking a Christmas break and it paid off with a third successive win in the Latrobe Carnival in Tasmania yesterday.

Josiah got the better of Australian national team rider Jason Niblett and his Melbourne-based Malaysian team-mate, Azizul Hasni Awang, in the keirin final. Another member of the Australian sprint team, Scott Sunderland, was placed fourth.

The respective winners of the heats advanced to the final and Josiah was pleased to have come out tops in his pet event.

He also won the keirin competition in the Perth Grand Prix last November and chalked up a major upset to become the first non-Australian rider to win the Melbourne Cup on Wheels event last week.

Josiah was also the only Malaysian cyclist to reach the 200m sprint final and he finished fourth in the race won by Shane Perkins of Australia in 11.32.

The sprint and keirin are UCI-sanctioned events and offered ranking points to the riders.

”Niblett is currently one of the fastest Australians. He won medals in the last three World Cups and I am pleased to have finished ahead of him,” said Josiah from Tasmania yesterday.

“I’m quite suprised with my form as I’m still kind of sick with flu. But I guess I have been doing my homework well and I have also taken care of myself well.”

Josiah did not race in the team sprint. The Malaysian trio of Mohd Edrus Yunus, Azizul and Rizal Tisin finished third behind New Zealand and Australia.

Another rising talent in Malaysian track cycling, Fatehah Mustapa, earned cheers with victory in the 1,000m sprint final.

And Josiah’s winning streak also has a lot to do with the performances of his team-mates in the track team.

“I’m enjoying the competitition and racing with my team-mates. It’s good that there is one person from our side who is winning races,” he added.

The Tasmanian Christmas Carnivals circuit continues with another meet at the Launceston Silverdome tomorrow.

“It’s part of the annual year-end track meetings between Australia and New Zealand but they have invited the Malaysian and Hong Kong teams this time. There are about 10 or 11 races running in a single day and each of us try to do a few races,” said Josiah.

Source: The Star, Malaysia

Merry Christmas!

Thank you FedEx Malaysia for the wonderful gifts received today! Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year 2009 to you all. Keep up the passion in cycling and hopefully there will be more wins for all of us this 2009.