Sprint-keirin double possible for Shah at national meet, says cycling director
KUALA LUMPUR: National cycling programme technical director John Beasley believes next month's national track cycling championships in Johor (May 20-25) will be the perfect opportunity for Shah Firdaus Sahrom to achieve a rare double victory.
Beasley said Shah, who has been battling tendonitis in his right knee since early February, is now close to full fitness and confirmed he will ride at the Johor Velodrome in Iskandar Puteri.
"Shah is probably 80 per cent recovered, it is just a matter of strengthening the knee now to ensure that the issue does not bother him again in the future," said Beasley.
"He will ride at the nationals. This is his big chance to be national champion in both the (individual) sprint and the keirin, which Azizulhasni Awang won (both) last year.
"Shah has won one - either the sprint or keirin - in previous years, however, he has never won both in the same edition of the competition. This will be a good opportunity for him to make the step up."
Despite the injury, Shah has been in fine form this season and won the keirin event at the UCI Nations Cup in Konya, Turkiye last month. It was his first win in a major international event.
Azizulhasni, who has not raced since the Paris Olympics, is on the comeback trail as he has not raced since the Paris Olympics.
It is unknown whether he will race at the national meet as he is now an independent rider and is not obliged to race at the national championships.
"He might race but it is not confirmed yet. We don't want to rush him and stress him when he is not ready," said Beasley recently.
"Let's just do things right this year so we can have a really fast rocket next year."
Azizulhasni, 37, had contemplated retiring and took time away from the sport to think about his future after the Paris games.
The former world keirin champion announced his decision to continue racing, albeit as an independent rider, earlier this month.
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