Thursday, August 16, 2012
Friday, July 20, 2012
CYCLING: Landmark rider
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The Kuala Terengganu lass lines up for the women’s keirin at the London Velodrome as the first ever woman cyclist to qualify for the Olympics and she has achieved that four years ahead of schedule, as the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) had initially targeted her for the 2016 Olympics.
It’s all been fast-tracked as the reigning Asian women’s keirin champion has gone through two of her best seasons yet, which has seen her rise to prominence on the world stage as well.
Fatehah has come a long way since she first exploded onto the scene in the 2004 Malaysia Games in Negri Sembilan when she stunned a field of mainly elite national riders to win the road race gold medal.
At just 15 then, she set the record as the youngest ever cyclist to win a gold medal in that Games which still stands.
There was never a doubt about Fatehah’s potential and since she went under the watchful eye of national head coach John Beasley at the elite squad’s base in Melbourne two years ago, it has been as if a fast forward button had been switched on.
Malaysia had waited 44 years before Noor Azian Alias won the country’s first medal in a women’s event at the Asian Cycling Championships, a silver medal in the road road in Bangkok in 2007.
But Fatehah had bettered that with multiple medals since she raced as an elite rider in 2008 and topped that with another piece of history for herself when she delivered the first gold medal in the keirin at the Asian meet in Kuala Lumpur in April.
By now, the country’s most famous woman cyclist, Fatehah will enter the Olympics, ranked 13th in the world and her chances of going beyond what she has achieved in the UCI World Cup legs and the World Championships have been heightened by the regulations limiting nations to just one rider for the keirin in London.
That means Russia, who have three riders in the top 13, France who have four and Britain who have two, will only be able to field one rider, roughly placing Fatehah as the seventh seed entering the Games.
“For sure I’m going to give it my all. My first target is to make the final. Everything will be towards that. When I make the final, then anything can happen.
WIth the right strategy and if everything goes my way, I may be in with a shot for a medal,” said Fatehah.
She is with the rest of the squad in a training camp in Ghent, Belgium ahead of the Olympics and yesterday, the squad headed for Cologne, Germany where they will go through their final preparation race.
• Name: Fatehah Mustapa
• Date of birth: March 11, 1989
• Place of birth: Kuala Terengganu
• Achievements: 2004 Malaysia Games - women’s road race gold medal
2011: Sea Games, Jakarta: gold medals in the 200m sprint, team sprint and 500m time trial.
2012: Asian Championships - keirin gold medal.
• London expectations: Hoping to reach the keirin final
• Competition date: Aug 3
Read more: CYCLING: Landmark rider - Racing - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/sports/racing/cycling-landmark-rider-1.110230#ixzz21DanocpO
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
CYCLING: Taking The High Road
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Sure, Malaysians don't have a good record in this event and there are questions whether our riders could even arrive at the finish line of the 250km road race that covers nine laps on a circuit that includes a tough Box Hill climb.
The best that Malaysians have done before is qualifying for six out of the seven Under-23 World Championships road races with just one finisher — Ng Yong Li in Madrid in 2005.
AdiqHusainiecameclosetoimproving that record in Geelong, Australia last year and was set for a top 10 finish when he crashed.
A year has since passed, and Adiq Husainie's meteoric rise is evident when he signed with China's UCI ProfessionalContinentalteam, Champion System, after spending two years with Australia's Drapac Pro Cycling. He has begun making inroads towards establishing himself as a prominent rider in Europe, having achieved several top 10 finishes in pro races in the United States.
Adiq Husainie is touted by head coach John Beasley as Malaysia's best bet to be a Grand Tour rider and he has already set his sights on the Tour de France by 2015.
The same goes for 25-year-old Amir Mustafa, who is with Drapac Pro Cycling and is also the first ever Olympian from that team. He is determined for a good run in the Olympics, but is aware of the magnitude of the task that awaits at Box Hill.
But the possibility of not finishing the race has never crossedthemindsofthetwo riders. They only think about crossing the finish line.
"We'll prepare well and personally I have an idea of what I need to do. For sure it is going to be tough. My aim is to stay in the front of the race and then look to do something special," said Adiq Husainie.
"I think my fitness is up to the mark, but having raced in Europe, I now know that the key to finishing a tough long race like this is mental strength. That is my focus in the build-up.
"I'm entering races which are similarly tough if not tougher in Belgium, so that I can tune my mind for that task.
"At the same time, it is about staying out of trouble in the coming weeks. I don't want to take risks and injure myself before London," said Adiq Husainie.
If racing in Europe is what it takes to tune up well for London, then Amir Mustafahasalreadyspentfourmonths racing there when based in Belgium with the Drapac Cycling team before joining Adiq Husainie and the track squad for a month-long pre-Olympic camp there.
But Amir Mustafa has his feet firmly on the ground, realising what this Olympic qualification means, stating his pride in being part of a groundbreaking duo that will hopefully be signs of good things to come for road cycling in the country, which has long lived in the shadows of the successful track programme.
"I was so relieved to find out that I have made the squad. Now it is about doing the nation proud. I know it is going to be difficult, so my task there is to work with Adiq Husainie to get to the finish. To just finish the race would be an achievement for us," said Amir Mustafa.
"I've been studying the course, looking up everything on the Internet. We will have to stay with the front group and fight to stay with them when we climb Box Hill, then we can look at how we can finish the race." Though not much hope is placed on the duo to achieve a good result, their remarkable presence there already marks a step forward for the Malaysian National Cycling Federation, which is banking on this achievement to ignite road cycling in the country.
• Name: Amir Mustafa Rusli
• Date of birth: Feb 5, 1987
• Place of birth: Dungun, Terengganu
• Achievements: Team pursuit and individual pursuit gold medals in 2007 Korat Sea Games, third in general classification and winner of the Malaysian riders' classification in 2010 Jelajah Malaysia; Signed as a professional with Australia's Drapac Pro Cycling in 2011
• London expectations: Help Adiq Husainie get a good position and to finish the race
• Competition dates: July 28
• Name: Adiq Husainie Othman
• Date of birth: April 29, 1991
• Place of birth: Kemaman, Terengganu
• Achievements: Scratch race bronze medal in 2009 UCI Track Junior World Championships; Individual time trial bronze medal in 2008 Asian Junior Championships in Nara, Japan; Silver medal in road race in 2009 Asian Championships in Tanggerang, Indonesia; silver medal in 2012 Putrajaya Under-23 Championships
• London expectations: Finishing the race among the front group
Read more: CYCLING: Taking the high road - Racing - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/sports/racing/cycling-taking-the-high-road-1.108718#ixzz20qSvDX3A
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Cycling Squad Return Home With 11 Medals, Nine More Than Laos
It was a quantum leap from the one silver and one bronze they took home from the 2009 Laos Games. Nor Azian Alias delivered the silver in the women’s road race while Mohd Zamri Salleh got the bronze in the men’s competition. Track cycling was not part of the programme.
Here, the seven gold medals only came flooding in when track cycling began its campaign at the Rawamangun Velodrome. It can be said that track cycling saved the blushes for the squad.
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| Too strong: Fatehah Mustaha (left) and Ju Pha Som Net on their way to winning the gold medal in the Women’s Team Sprint. Fatehah competed in the event just minutes after winning the individual sprint. |
It came as no surprise when world-class rider Fatehah took to the tracks, blowing away her rivals. After all, she had placed fifth in the keirin race at the World Championships in Holland in March.
Having completed her individual sprint race just minutes earlier, the tireless Fatehah was back in the saddle to partner Ju Pha in the team sprint final. Even then, they were too good for the Thai duo of Jutatip Maneephan-Chanakan Srichan.
The Melbourne based Edrus did not have too much problem in the men’s sprint final as he was up against team-mate Fattah Amri Zaid.
Hats off also to those who raced in the track endurance events like omnium, scratch and team pursuit, as they beat the odds, especially as Thailand and Indonesia were the favourites.
The success of the track endurance team has given hope to coach Harnizam Basri, who is targeting the team pursuit event in the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.
“We had most of our best riders here because we wanted to win the gold medals. But, on average, the riders are still young,” he said.
“We have a lot of young talent back home ... it’s just that they need to ride in more competitions locally, which seems to be a luxury, before they can strut their stuff at a higher level like the SEA Games.”
Hafiz’s success in grabbing the omnium gold must not be wasted and he must pursue the event diligently.
Riders who are chosen to compete in the omnium, a six-race event, should not be on a ad-hoc basis as it is an Olympic event which replaces the madison, individual pursuit and the 1km time trial.
As for the road programme, there are two ways of looking at the performances of the riders.
While Mariana Mohamad and Ng Yong Li could only finish fourth in the women’s individual time trial and men’s road race respectively, there is still much work ahead for them.
The road cycling squad attended a training camp in Chiang Mai in August after conducting a recce of the mountainous route in Bandung. The squad also had four professional riders – Amir, Adiq (both Drapac Cycling), Yong Li (Le Tua) and Mohd Shahrul Mat Amin (Terengganu Pro-Asia). But coach Graham Seers, who has been with the team since January, played down their defeat.
He said the Indonesian team spent eight months training on the mountains of Tangkuban Parahu and had the advantage of knowing the route well.
“This doesn’t mean that we are doomed in road cycling,” said Seers.
“The riders showed the desire and hunger and we can take a lot of positives from it. Remember, we have qualified on merit for the Olympic road race and have to thank these guys for making it possible.”
As for the mountain bike cross-country event, Masziyaton Mohd Radzi’s silver medal finish is one step better than her bronze in Laos two years ago. And it has also given hope for the future.
The BMX event is still in its infancy in Malaysia and that explains why the riders were outclassed by Indonesia in the men’s and women’s events. Let’s hope there will be more support for BMX in the country as they make their bid to qualify for the 2016 Olympics.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Cyclists Miss Out On Medals In Individual Road Time Trial Events
PETALING JAYA: Malaysian cyclists finished out of the medals in the individual road time trial competitions at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Isle of Man on Friday.
The cyclists were the only medal hopes for the country on the first day of competition but they were unable to adapt to the windy and cold weather conditions.
Ju Pha Somnet and Nurul Nadia Fauzi could only finish 16th and 17th in the women’s time trial.
Hamdan Hamidun and Arfy Qhairant Amran, who represented the country at the recent World Junior Championships in Moscow, only managed 28th and 33rd in the field of 45 in the men’s time trial.
Hannah Barnes of England claimed the first gold medal in the women’s time trial while Australia’s Alex Morgan was crowned the winner in the men’s competition.
There is some hope in badminton as all the shuttlers made it to the quarter-finals on Friday.
Top gold medal hope Zulfadli Zulkifli led the charge into the last eight of the men’s singles after beating Tholego Chamo of Botswana 21-9, 21-8 while Soong Joo Ven thrashed Mohamed Shabin of Maldives 21-1, 21-1.
In the quarter-finals, Zulfadli will play India’s Pratul Joshi while Joo Ven will face second seed Sameer Verma, also of India.
Zulfadli-Joo Ven also pulled off a surprise in the men’s doubles when they beat second seeds Daniel Font-Oliver Gwilt of Wales 21-9, 21-11 to set up a quarter-final clash agains Ryan McCarthy-Tom Wolfenden of England.
Sonia Cheah and Yang Li Lian also marched into the last eight of the women’s singles.
Sonia overcame Saili Rane of India 21-7, 21-10 while Li Lian fought hard to beat Achini Rathnasiri of Sri Lanka 10-21, 21-16, 24-22.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
The 18th Asian Junior Cycling Championships
9 ~ 19 February 2011
Korat, Thailand
Athletes:
1. Ummi Hammah Mohamad
2. Nurul Nadia Mohamad Fauzi - 5th (Ind TT) , 6th (Ind Road Race) , 4th (Point Race)
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