Azizulhasni keeps Malaysia's first Olympic gold medal hopes alive

TOKYO: National track cycling ace Datuk Mohd Azizulhasni Awang kept Malaysia's hopes of a first Olympic gold medal alive on a sensational evening at the Izu Velodrome in Shizuoka here today.

The 33-year-old former world champion topped Heat Three of the men's keirin first round to march into the quarter-finals, scheduled for Sunday (Aug 8), in style.

However, Azizulhasni was given a tough fight by the other five riders, including Trinidad and Tobago's Nicholas Paul. But once the bell rang, Azizulhasni put the pedal to the metal and powered his way to the finish line.

Azizulhasni, who bagged a bronze in keirin at the 2016 Rio Games, crossed the line ahead of Paul while Patryk Rajkowski of Poland came in third.

With Malaysia having won only a bronze through badminton, so far, it looks like the national contingent's quest for the country's first-ever Olympic gold medal will go into the last day of the 2020 Tokyo Games, which officially ends Sunday (Aug 8).

Azizulhasni, however, won't have to shoulder the responsibility all by himself as teammate Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom also qualified for the quarter-finals in dramatic fashion.

Muhammad Shah Firdaus made the quarter-finals in spectacular style after finishing second in Heat One of the first round repechage behind Kwesi Browne of Trinidad and Tobago.

What makes the Malaysian's progress even more remarkable is that he had suffered injuries after being involved in a collision with Briton Jack Carlin in Heat Two of the first round earlier.

The 25-year-old, who is making his Olympic debut, was trying to squeeze through a gap when the accident occurred. Kazakhstan's Sergey Ponomaryov then crashed into the fallen Malaysian.

The race had to be restarted after all the heats had been completed but Muhammad Shah Firdaus, who suffered bruises on his shoulder, and Ponomaryov were forced to pull out.

But it did not stop Muhammad Shah Firdaus from producing the race of his life in the repechage to join Azizulhasni in the quarter-finals.

In the quarter-finals on Sunday (Aug 8), Azizulhasni is in Heat Three with Matthew Glaetzer (Australia), Stefan Boetticher (Germany), Yuta Wakimoto (Japan), Denis Dmitriev (Russian Olympic Committee) and Kwesi.

Muhammad Shah Firdaus will battle it out again with Carlin in Heat Two alongside Maximilian Levy (Germany), Callum Saunders (New Zealand), Jair Tjon En Fa (Suriname) and Paul.

-- BERNAMA