Mohd Firdaus Mohd Zonis (pic, right) and Mohd Shah Firdaus Sahrom have been absorbed into the elite track cycling squad after impressing coach John Beasley. - Filepic
PETALING JAYA: National track cycling coach John Beasley has big plans for youngsters Mohd Firdaus Mohd Zonis and Mohd Shah Firdaus Sahrom.
For next season, Beasley has lined up a number of top-class senior competitions for the duo to gain exposure and experience.
Eighteen-year-old Firdaus, a 1km time trial world junior bronze medallist, and Mohd Shah, 19, will join the country's elite cyclists – Azizulhasni Awang, Josiah Ng, Mohd Edrus Yunos and Rizal Tisin – to compete in the prestigious World Cup.
Firdaus and Mohd Shah will compete in at least three legs of the World Cup, which begins in Mexico from Nov 8-9. Before the World Cup, the duo will be sent to compete in the Bike NZ Classic in New Zealand from Sept 18-20 and the Track Asia Cup in Bangkok from Oct 10-12. Both will take part in the sprint, keirin and 1km time trial events.
"I'm extremely impressed by Firdaus and Mohd Shah's performances so far. They have a very tough road ahead of them. However, I'm confident that both of them will succeed," said Beasley.
"I am very excited to have two young and talented cyclists joining the elite programme. It goes to show that our junior programme is starting to work the way it should," added the Australian.
To further improve their performances, Beasley included Firdaus and Mohd Shah to train with the Asian Games-bound cyclists in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Azizulhasni, Josiah, Edrus, Rizal, Fatehah Mustapa and Ju Pha Som Net are now in their final phase of training for the Games in Incheon, South Korea, from Sept 19-Oct 14.
"From now on, Firdaus and Mohd Shah will have to endure countless hours of travel, long days of hard work and time away from their families to learn the craft of track racing. We will also work on their tactical sense," said Beasley
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