KUCHING, Aug 17 (Bernama) -- “My prayers are with you. I have faith in you and am always confident you can do it!”
Those are the words of encouragement that cyclist Mohamad ‘Afi Danial Ramli received when he called up his mum prior to his criterium race today.
And it was those exact words from his mother, Hazlina Md Taberi, that also became the driving force behind his triumphant ride at the Pehin Sri Adenan Satem Highway.
The holder of a Diploma in Defence Fitness from Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia admitted as much when he said that his mother’s words during the phone call “clearly changed my mindset”.
“Last night, I couldn’t sleep as I kept thinking about today’s difficult route, especially the two U-turns that we must negotiate. So, I wasn’t confident about winning the gold or any other medal, for that matter. But just one call to my mum this morning changed everything,” he told reporters after the medal presentation ceremony.
Mohamad ‘Afi can thank his mother for inspiring him to the gold medal in what will be his last SUKMA apperance as he beat 77 other riders by accumulating 19 points in the 43.2-kilometre (km) race that involved 24 rounds, including eight speed zones.
His achievement today, his second after also winning the men’s mass start gold two days ago, was more meaningful when his teammate, Muhamad Iqbal Daniel Mohd Nawawi, took home silver with 16 points.
Muhammad Hafiq Mohd Jafri of Melaka took bronze with 13 points.
Meanwhile, Nur Fitrah Shaari clinched the women’s criterium race with 20 points and immediately dedicated the gold medal to Kedah cycling head coach Noor Alfizar Othman, more fondly known as Acu.
“This gold is for Acu. I did not expect to win the gold today but she has sacrificed so much for us… convinced us to do our best. Thank you, Acu,” said Nur Fitrah, who also won the mass start team gold and individual silver yesterday.
The Kedahan said today’s victory would spur her to go for gold number three in Wednesday’s (Aug 21) mountain bike event so that she can end her SUKMA journey on a high.
Apart from her two golds and one silver here, Nur Fitrah also won two bronze medals at the 2022 edition in Kuala Lumpur in the mass start individual and 4-kilomere (km) team pursuit events.
In today’s women’s criterium race, Federal Territories rider Yeong Zhen Yi took silver with 13 points while Ameera Alya Md Zahiruddin of Terengganu settled for bronze with 12 points.
-- BERNAMA
