KUALA LUMPUR: Azizulhasni Awang proved that he still has plenty to offer after smashing his own national record en route to the semi-finals of the men's elite individual sprint in the Asian Track Cycling Championships yesterday.
The 35-year-old Pocket Rocketman posted a scorching 9.523s, which bettered his own national mark of 9.548s set in 2020, in the qualifying session at the National Velodrome in Nilai yesterday.
The Tokyo Olympic silver medallist was a whisker away from smashing the Asian record of 9.518 held by Yuta Wakimoto of Japan since 2021.
"Maybe it's because I execute everything right in my 200m flying lap attempt," said Azizul.
"We practised a few times on the transition and acceleration before this after I returned from the Hong Kong Track Cup series two weeks ago.
"I was the second last rider to go out for the flying lap and I saw that everyone before me was already hitting below 10 seconds. It's like athletics where you see everybody running 10 seconds flat and you know that you need to do something special to be in the top three, which was what I targeted.
"I was hoping to get 9.6 or 9.7 but to hit 9.5 in Nilai caught me by surprise," he said.
However, Azizul will be the only Malaysian in the men's elite sprint today after Shah Firdaus Sahrom lost to Japan's Kohei Terasaki in the quarter-finals.
Azizul beat Taiwan's Kang Shih Feng in two heats to reach the last four where he will face Kento Yamasaki, who got past Thailand's Asian Games keirin champion Jai Angsuthasawit.
RESULTS
Men
Elite
Quarter-finals: Azizulhasni Awang (Mas) bt Kang Shih Feng (Tpe) 2-0; Kento Yamasaki (Jpn) bt Jai Angsuthasawit (Tha) 2-1; Kaiya Ota (Jpn) bt Zhou Yu (Chn) 2-1; Kohei Terasaki (Jpn) bt Shah Firdaus Sahrom (Mas) 2-1.
Last 16: Azizulhasni Awang (Mas) bt To Cheuk Hei (Hkg) 1-0; Kaiya Ota (Jpn) bt Rahimabadi Mohd (Irn) 1-0; Kohei Terasaki (Jpn) bt Sergey Ponomaryov (Kaz) 1-0; Kento Yamasaki (Jpn) bt Kang Seo Jun (Kor) 1-0; Jai Angsuthasawit (Tha) bt Hsieh Nien Hsing (Tpe) 1-0; Shah Firdaus Sahrom (Mas) bt Andrey Chugay (Kaz) 1-0; Zhou Yu (Chn) bt Ronaldo Laitonjam (Ind) 1-0; Kang Shih Feng (Tpe) bt Liu Qi (Chn) 1-0.
Qualifying (top 10): 1. Azizulhasni Awang (Mas) 9.523; 2. Kaiya Ota (Jpn) 9.549; 3. Kohei Terasaki (Jpn) 9.640; 4. Kento Yamasaki (Jpn) 9.703; 5. Hsieh Nien-hsing (Tpe) 9.715; 6. Shah Firdaus Sahrom (Mas) 9.728; 7. Zhou Yu (Chin) 9.731; 8. Liu Qi (Chn) 9.843; 9. Kang Shih Feng (Tpe) 9.847; 10. Ronaldo Laitonjam (Ind) 9.877.
Women
Elite
Sprint
Quarter-finals: Fuko Umekawa (Jpn) bt Lee Hye Jin (Kor) 2-0; Ohta Riyu (Jpn) bt Anis Amira Rosidi (Mas) 2-0; Mina Sato (Jpn) bt Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri (Mas) 2-0; Jiang Yulu (Chn) bt Zhuang Wei (Chn) 2-0.
Last 16: Zhuang Wei (Chn) bt Lute Mayuri (Ind) 1-0; Lee Hye Jin (Kor) bt Chen Ching Yun (Tpe) 1-0; Fuko Umekawa (Jpn) bt Wang Tzu Chun (Tpe) 1-0; Jiang Yu Lu (Chn) bt Kim Ha Eun (Kor) 1-0; Mina Sato (Jpn) bt Yuliya Golubkova (Kaz) 1-0; Ohta Riyu (Jpn) bt Yaowaret Jitmat (Tha).
Qualifying (top 10): 1. Riyu Ohta (Jpn) 10.596; 2. Mina Sato (Jpn) 10.610; 3. Jiang Yu Lu (Chn) 10.611; 4. Fuko Umekawa (Jpn) 10.643; 5. Lee Hye Jin (Kor) 10.848l 6. Zhuang Wei (Chn) 10.859; 7. Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri (Mas) 10.903; 8. Anis Amira Rosidi (Mas) 10.977; 9. Triyasha Paul (Ind) 11.179; 10. Yeung Cho Yiu (Hkg) 11.210