NILAI: The ongoing Asian Track Championships (ATC) has unveiled a significantly stronger Azizulhasni Awang with the potential to win top honours in the men’s sprint and keirin events this year.
Azizulhasni, known as Pocket Rocketman, who in the past found it hard to make an impact in the sprint due to his diminutive size, achieved a career milestone as he finally broke the 10 second barrier at sea level on Monday.
Azizulhasni's 9.774s time in the sprint qualifying round not only smashed his previous personal best and national record of 10.073s, achieved in the 2016 edition, but also bettered the Asian record of 9.843s by Japan's Nitta Yudai set at the Japan Track Cup last year.
He won the sprint gold at the ATC last year and had won silver in the discipline at the 2009 World Championships but has never been considered a true contender in the event. This could change now.
The Terengganu-born rider said a slow and steady approach to building physical strength is starting to pay dividends.
"We tried for too much (muscle growth) too soon in the past which resulted in injuries. We have taken a slower approach now and it is showing positive results," said Azizulhasni, who is based in Melbourne with the national elite squad.
"Before the 2016 Rio Olympics, it was hard for me to gain even 2 kilogrammes but I have now gained 5kg of pure muscle mass and I am hoping to gain another 2kg by the end of the year.
"I have improved a lot before coming back to Malaysia (for the ATC). In fact, coach John Beasley had set a certain wattage (power output) target for me to win the keirin gold at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
"I can't reveal what is the actual figure but I had already achieved it before I got here, much earlier than we had expected so Beasley will have to set a new target for me."
With his newfound pace in the sprint, Azizulhasni has now set his sights on gold at the Asian Games later this year and giving the big guns at the world level a run for their money.
"It has been tougher for me to compete against the physically bigger riders in the sprint in recent years as they have the ability to use heavier gears and create their own pace.
"But my improved physical strength has allowed me to use heavier gears. Actually I can still go to a heavier gear but we will hold off for now.
"The actual (sprint) races are okay for me as they are quite tactical but qualifying had been a problem before this and being ranked lower meant I had to face tougher riders in the early rounds.
"Being able to hit the 9.7s range in qualifying will help me get a better draw and the goal now is to win a gold at the Asian Games.
"The Commonwealth Games and the World Championships are tougher as there are a lot of riders who are in that 9.7s range but again, the races are quite tactical so anything can happen."
Azizulhasni will be defending his keirin world title at the Apeldoorn World Championships at the end of this month where he will also be competing in the sprint.