Mohd Arfy and Lauretta deliver sweet victories in Track Asia Cup

Golden flourish: Malaysian cyclists Mohd Arfy Qhairant Amran (right) and Lauretta Eva Adrian celebrate with their Track Asia Cup cycling gold medals at the Cheras Velodrome in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. – AHMAD IZZRAFIQ ALIAS / The Star.

19.12.11

Mohd Arfy and Lauretta deliver sweet victories in Track Asia Cup
By SHAMSHUL FITRI


KUALA LUMPUR: There were sweet victories for Mohd Arfy Qhairant Amran and Lauretta Eva Adrian on the final day of the Track Asia Cup cycling competition at the Cheras Velodrome yesterday.

Arfy bagged the men’s junior keirin gold while Lauretta made up for the disappointment of falling short in the sprint, where she finished fourth, to win the women’s junior keirin.

For the 18-year-old Arfy, who is the reigning Asian junior sprint champion, it was his second gold medal of the competition having bagged the sprint title on Saturday.

“I was surprised to win the keirin as I wasn’t feeling right at the start of the day. My body just didn’t feel good before the race,” he said.


Golden flourish: Malaysian cyclists Mohd Arfy Qhairant Amran (right) and Lauretta Eva Adrian celebrate with their Track Asia Cup cycling gold medals at the Cheras Velodrome in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. – AHMAD IZZRAFIQ ALIAS / The Star.
“Our tactics also didn’t go as planned but I managed to hang on to outsprint the others on the home straight.”

Arfy had the help of Pelapis riders Mohd Fauzan Nor Azman and Malik Marcus McCrone, who won the bronze medal, to chart their strategy in the race.

He said the plan was for one of the Pelapis duo to ride behind the derny (motorised bike) to set the pace.

“But immediately after the start, Thai rider Worayut Kapunya, who won the silver, got in behind the derny and we had to change plans,” said Arfy.

Lauretta redeemed herself by winning the keirin after losing the sprint bronze medal to Thai rider Apinya Promboot on Saturday.

“Never in my wildest dream did I think I would win the gold medal because I only started training seriously last week after my SPM examination,” she said.

“This result will spur me on to do well in the Asian Championships here in February.”

Reihaneh Talebisomeehsaraei of Iran grabbed the silver medal while Pelapis rider Ummi Hamimah Mohd was third.

The men’s team of Mohd Fattah Amri Zaid, Mohd Farhan Amri Zaid and Fakhruddin Daud were no match for their Iranian rivals in the team sprint and had to settle for the silver medal.

The Iranian trio of Mahmoud Parash, Mahmoud Rasouli and Ali Askari stopped the clock in 1:03.478 while the Malaysian trio clocked1:06.617, slightly slower than their qualifying time of 1:06.012.