GOLD COAST: Like the famous story of the tortoise and the hare, Malaysian cyclist Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom had the last laugh at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast today.
He instantly became the centre of attention of the international media at the Anna Meares Velodrome after winning the sprint race (first round), thanks to an overly complacent world champion Matt Glaetzer of Australia.
Glaetzer, a hot favourite for the sprint gold, had qualified fastest and set a Commonwealth Games record of 9.583 seconds in the process. On the other hand, Shah had taken the last qualifying spot, an unremarkable 16th.
Glaetzer, who won the keirin gold a day earlier, is ranked World No 1 while Shah is at a lowly World No 34.
No reason for Glaetzer to lose. But he completely underestimated the Malaysian, making a tactical blunder, which allowed Shah too much of a lead.
In the end, Shah, the ‘tortoise, won the race while Glaetzer, the hare, ended up red-faced.
Shah said: “I am very, very happy. It's unbelievable because I was fighting with a world champion and (Commonwealth) Games record holder.
"Glaetzer is absolutely fast. It's hard to beat him on his day and I'm very honoured by what I did today. It's unbelievable."
A dejected Glaetzer said: ‘"He (Shah Firdaus) got the jump on me, so I'm pretty gutted.
"It's devastating. It'll take a little while to get over this one. To lose like that is embarrassing."
For all his heroics, Shah did not win a medal today. He lost to Kiwi Sam Webster in the semi-finals and Australian Jacob Schmid in the bronze medal decider.
But the other riders fighting for the gold are grateful to Shah, the tortoise, for knocking out the world champion with a sucker’s punch.