Farina says goodbye in style
15 October 2014 @ 8:07 AMFARINA Shawati Mohd Adnan bade goodbye to the junior scene in style with a treble of gold medals in the ACC Track Asia Cup in Bangkok over the weekend.
The 18-year-old, who won the sprint, keirin and 500m time trial at the Hua Mark Velodrome will now join the likes of Fatehah Mustapa and Jupha Somnet at the elite squad's Melbourne base.
Coach Harnizam Basri said Farina's performances were solid and she showed some new weapons in her armour at the Asia Cup.
"She was our best performer there and she really showed that she's ready to step up her game. She is now more confident to make her moves," said Harnizam.
"This was especially evident in the sprint and keirin, where Farina used her advantages effectively."
Farina said she is not going to rush into things and is looking to develop herself further before starting to set personal targets of what she wants to achieve.
"I'm satisfied with how I performed in Bangkok. It was among my best performances so far and it feels great to finish my last race as a junior in that manner," said Farina.
"But moving into the elite squad is not going to be easy. It is a higher level, but I have Fatehah to look up to. It will take some time before I can reach her level and I still have a lot to learn and that is what I'm going to do.
"My first target is to perform well at the Asian Championships in Korat in February, which will be my first outing as an elite rider."
Harnizam added that the dearth of talent in the women's squad is being addressed but they aren't about to rush into things.
"We can see quite clearly that our women's squad need to be beefed up. But at the same time the riders have to be ready. Our next task is to prepare Nurul Alissa Mohd Azman," said Harnizam.
"She is the next rider we can push to the elite squad, but at the moment she is not at that level yet, but we are working on her here." By Arnaz M. Khairul
