KUALA LUMPUR: In a massive blow to the nation's medal hopes, track cyclist Azizulhasni Awang was disqualified in his men's keirin first round heat at the Paris Olympics tonight.
Azizulhasni was judged to have overtaken the derny before it left the track at the Saint Quentin en Yvelines Velodrome.
His disqualified status means he will not be able to compete in the repechage later today.
It is, however, unclear whether Azizulhasni's camp will file a protest.
Azizulhasni had been drawn sixth behind the derny in his heat which also featured Netherlands' Jeffrey Hoogland, Matthew Glaetzer (Australia), Ota Kaiya (Japan), Ryan Helal (France) and Jair Tjon En Fa (Suriname).
Glaetzer and Hoogland took the top-two spots in the heat.
Shah Firdaus Sahrom finished third in his heat behind Trinidad and Tobago's Nicholas Paul and Poland's Mateusz Rudyk and thus missed the top-two cut for direct entry to the quarterfinals.
He will have another chance to qualify for the quarterfinals in the first round repechage later today. Only the top-two from each repechage heat will make the quarterfinals.