Knee Pain Fails To Stop Nur Alyssa From Winning Keirin Gold

NILAI, Jan 11 (Bernama) -- Left knee pain did not stop national track cyclist Nur Alyssa Farid from clinching the women’s elite keirin gold medal at the ASEAN Track Series (President Cup) 2 at the National Velodrome here today.

Nur Alyssa, 20, beat compatriot Yong Ann Tung to the silver, while Hong Kong rider Tung Phoebe completed the podium with the bronze.

The Johor-born rider said she endured a challenging final due to pressure from the Hong Kong cyclist who sprinted strongly from behind, resulting in a high-tempo race.

“The final was quite exhausting because I went early after the derny motorcycle led the race, and the Hong Kong rider was fast from behind, so I had to use a lot of energy to maintain my speed.

“I went full gas for almost two and a half laps, so it was really challenging. Actually, my left knee is hurting. Yesterday during training, my knee was hit when the pedal came off, so there is definitely pain,” she told reporters after the race.

With the victory, she defended the same gold medal she won at the ASEAN Track Series (President Cup) 1 held on Thursday, in addition to claiming silver and bronze medals in the sprint events at the same championship.

Nur Alyssa said that despite the difficulties, she pushed herself to deliver her best performance and dedicated the victory to her coach, Herman Terryn.

She added that following the injury, she is scheduled to undergo an examination at the National Sports Institute (ISN) this Tuesday.

The rising athlete is also targeting to accumulate more points in Class One competitions to qualify for this year’s World Championships.

Meanwhile, the men’s elite keirin event saw national track cyclist Muhammad Ridwan Sahrom win the bronze medal, while Dika Alif Dhentaka from Indonesia took silver, with the gold going to Hong Kong’s To Cheuk Hei.

-- BERNAMA