Three Sukma riders to join elite track cycling squad

13.03.2012
By LIM TEIK HUAT

PETALING JAYA: Three riders who shone at the Malaysia Games (Sukma) in Kuala Lumpur last year — Mohd Fattah Amri Zaid, Mohd Arfy Qhairant Amran and Ju Pha Somnet — have been recruited into the elite track cycling squad currently based in Melbourne.

The trio earned the nod of head coach John Beasley to join London Oly­mpic bound cyclists Azizulhasni Awang, Josiah Ng, Mohd Edrus Yunos and Fatehah Mustapa in the elite squad.

With Azizul and Josiah focusing on the keirin leading up to the Olympics, Beasley is likely to opt for Fattah and Arfy to combine with Edrus in the team sprint.

Malaysia are virtually out of the running for the team sprint event at the Olympics as they are far behind China and Japan in the world rankings. But it is the right time to build a new squad for the future.

Only the top two nations from Asia will qualify for the Olympics in the various sprint disciplines, compared to three in Beijing previously.

"The addition of Fattah, Arfy and Ju Pha is part of our long term planning for the next Commonwealth and Asian Games in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016.

"It takes six to eight years to groom a world class rider, They need to put on some muscles and it takes three to four years to do that.

"We teach them the craft of racing and, hopefully, they will be ready to complement the seniors in a few years," said Beasley, adding that the juniors are doing what Azizul and Fatehah went through.

Azizul has emerged as Asia's best sprinter with two World Cham­pion­ships silver medals and an Asian Games gold since joining the elite squad in 2007.

Fatehah, who joined around the same time, reached the World Cham­pionships keirin final in Holland last year and basked in the glory of becoming the first Malaysian woman cyclist gold medallist at the Asian Cham­pion­ships in Kuala Lumpur in February.

"Fatehah has blossomed into a good rider and has grown in confidence after winning the gold at the Asian championships. I expect more good things from her," said Beasley.

The Melbourne training base will also welcome the trio of Ummi Hami­mah Mohamad, Malek Marcus Mac­crone and Mohd Firdaus Suardi, who will train with the elite cyclists until August before heading for the World Junior Track Championships in Inver­car­­gill, New Zealand, from Aug 22-26.

Tiga pelapis galas cabaran Remaja Dunia

Metro
3/3/2012

Pelapis galas cabaran Remaja Dunia


TIGA atlet pelapis berbasikal negara menggalas cabaran negara pada Kejohanan Trek Remaja Dunia di Invercargill, New Zealand, Ogos ini.

Pengarah Cawangan Pelapis MSN, Jefri Ngadirin berkata, tiga atlet itu ialah Ummi Hamimah Mohamad, Muhamad Firdaus Suahrdi dan Malek Marcus McCrone.


Kejohanan remaja itu diadakan di Velodrom ILT, Invercargill dari 22 hingga 26 Ogos dan dijangka disertai 400 pelumba dari lebih 30 negara.

Sementara itu, Jefri berkata seramai 22 atlet pelapis kebangsaan di naik taraf sebagai atlet elit berikutan pencapaian cemerlang di beberapa kejohanan sepanjang tahun lalu.


"Mereka mula diserap ke kelompok elit mulai bulan lalu dan tempat mereka di unit pelapis akan diisi atlet pelapis negeri," katanya ketika dihubungi Bernama, semalam.


Daripada jumlah 22 atlet itu, tujuh adalah dari sukan angkat berat, tiga masing-masing dari acara berbasikal dan menembak, dua masing-masing dari acara wushu, boling, terjun, sukan layar dan satu dari acara karate (kata).