Stronger sprint team going for top four spot at world meet
Posted by josiahng on March 24, 2009
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.
