KUALA LUMPUR: Track cyclist Azizulhasni Awang proved that he is in the form of his life at the Paris Olympics after opening his campaign at the games with a new national record today.
Azizulhasni, 36, clocked a blistering 9.402 seconds to place 10th overall from 30 riders in the men's individual sprint qualifying round at the Saint Quentin en Yvelines Velodrome.
The time bettered his own national record of 9.523s which he had set en route to gold at the Asian Championships in Nilai last year.
Azizulhasni's timing was briefly a new Asian record until Japan's Ota Kaiya took to the track and clocked 9.350s (eighth overall), erasing the former Asian mark of 9.518s set by Yuta Wakimoto (Japan) at Tokyo 2020.
Azizulhasni's teammate Shah Firdaus Sahrom also did well to clock a solid 9.635s to place 22nd overall.
The duo thus advanced to the first round which will be held later today. Only the top-24 made the cut.
Azizulhasni will face Germany's Luca Spiegel for a spot in the second round while Shah was drawn against Israel's Mikhail Yakholev.
They will face some in-form opposition if they make it to the business end of the competition as the world record was broken twice in qualifying today.
Australian Matthew Richardson first clocked 9.091s before outright favourite Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands) reaffirmed his title credentials with a scorching 9.088s. Lavreysen and Richardson finished 1-2 in the qualifying round.
The previous world record of 9.1s flat was set by Nicholas Paul (Trininad and Tobago) in 2019.
Meanwhile in the first round of the women's keirin, Izzah Izzati Asri finished fourth in her heat and will thus compete in the repechage later today.
Izzah, who was drawn fourth behind the derny, made her way to the front early but was overpowered by her rivals in the final two laps.
Only the top-two from the heat advanced straight to the quarterfinals while the rest will compete in the repechage. Great Britain's Emma Finucane and Germany's Lea Friedrich finished 1-2 in the heat.