Malaysia coach expects podium finish at World Junior meet

New Straits Times

25-07-2025

KUALA LUMPUR: National coach Herman Terryn wants to see his riders finish on the podium at the World Junior Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, from Aug 20-24.
At the last edition of the championships in China, Terryn guided track cyclist Nur Alyssa Farid to the keirin final.
However, she crashed after taking the lead in the closing stages of the race.
This time, he's banking on Sawda Hasbullah, Nur Umairah Qhaisara Zulfikha Razak, Luqman Haqim Ali Badrun and Yu Jing Liang to deliver a podium finish.
The French coach said the preparations for Apeldoorn are in the final stretch, and the riders have shown improvement since the Asian Championships (ACC) in February.
"The riders have been showing good progress, especially in July. We had to negotiate with their schools to get more training time. Umairah and Sawda are less fatigued after training now compared to the March-June period," said Terryn.
"We are tapering the training towards the competition. We can't work on the riders' physique anymore — the focus now is on fast recovery. We don't want them to be exhausted during the World Championships.
"I hope we can return with a medal this time."
Sawda, who was the standout performer at the ACC with gold medals in the women's sprint and time trial, as well as silver in the team sprint, will be Malaysia's main medal hope.
The Melaka rider set a world record of 1:10.818s in the 1km time trial, but the mark has since been surpassed by Britain's Erin Boothman, who clocked 1:08.092s at the European Junior Championships in Portugal on July 19.
"We now know where we stand, and we have high expectations of the riders, especially Sawda and Umairah. It will be tough, but it's not impossible," said Terryn.