Kedah teen cyclist powers to women’s elite sprint gold

NILAI, May 28 (Bernama) -- Kedahan Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri caused an upset when she defeated national rider Anis Amira Rosidi in the women’s elite sprint event at the National Track Cycling Championships 2022 at the National Velodrome here today.

The pint-sized 19-year-old Nurul Izzah produced a spirited performance in the final by clocking 11.493 seconds (s) to beat Anis Amira (11.792s) of Perlis in the first race.

Nurul Izzah maintained her momentum in the second race to clock 11.684s to confirm the gold medal as Anis Amira, 24, could only manage 11.789s.

Yong An Yi of Selangor clocked 11.929s to pip Penang’s Nurul Aliana Syafika Azizan (12.164s) to the bronze medal.

Nurul Izzah described the victory as her most treasured so far in her career, especially since she had to battle it out against an experienced national rider.

“Initially I was scared a bit because I had never faced Anis before and she is an experienced national rider, so I didn’t expect to win but I still tried my best.

“My strategy was simply to ride faster so that I will not be blocked because we are quite evenly matched,” she told reporters here today.

Nurul Izzah, who is from Jitra, said she will be more focused to continue to improve her performance before competing in the Malaysia Games (Sukma) 2022.

Meanwhile, Olympian Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom of Johor won the men’s elite sprint event when he defeated another national rider, Muhammad Fadli Zonis of Selangor.

In the first race, Shah Firdaus clocked 10.827s while Muhammad Fadli recorded 10.843s. In the second race, Shah Firdaus went even faster to clock 10.275s while Muhammad Fadli could only manage 10.829s. 

More interestingly, Shah Firdaus’ younger brother, Mohd Ridwan also made the podium when he clinched the bronze medal by defeating Ahmad Safwan Ahmad Nazri of Perak.

Tomorrow is the last day of the three-day championships.

-- BERNAMA