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Thursday November 22, 2007

Cycling: Josiah and Azizul say no to Asia Cup meet

KUALA LUMPUR: Track cyclists Josiah Ng and Azizul Hasni Awang have had a change of mind and will not compete in the Sultan Azlan Shah Asia Cup cycling championships, which begin tomorrow at the Kuala Lumpur Velodrome.

The duo are currently based in Melbourne with the rest of the national sprint team and they are down to compete in a competition there over the same weekend.

Thank you: Organising chairman Tan Sri Darshan Singh (right) shaking hands with Konica Minolta marketing manager C.K. Lim at the sponsorship presentation ceremony for the Sultan Azlan Shah Track Asia Cup 2007. Looking on are Perak Cycling Association vice-president Amarjit Singh (second from left) and Information Ministry’s director of corporate communications Tarmidzi Hashim.
In their absence, Malaysia's bid for a medal in the 200m sprint and keirin will rest on the shoulders of Asian Junior Championships gold medallist Mohd Syamil Bahrum.

Former Asian keirin champion Rizal Tisin will chase for honours in the 1km time trial. Rizal, the Asian Championships bronze medallist in the event, will reunite with Mohd Edrus Yunos and Junaidi Nasir for the team sprint.

Asian Championships gold medallist Hariff Salleh is also expected to pose a strong challenge in the points race.

Except for Josiah and Azizul, the track and endurance cyclists based in Melbourne and Kunming will be in action.

The organising chairman, Tan Sri Darshan Singh, said that Malaysia still had strong representation in the other events.

“For the first time this year, we have all the top track cyclists from the respective powerhouses in Asia coming here to test their potential before going to the first round of the Track World Cup in Sydney the following week,” said Darshan after a sponsorship presentation ceremony yesterday.

“A record 96 cyclists from 10 countries will compete this weekend and Japan, with their strong national team, will be the favourite to win the Asia Cup. They have won the competition four times since 2003.”

Besides Japan and Malaysia, the other countries taking part are China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Thailand and India.

The Japanese star-studded line-up include Doha Asian Games keirin gold medallist Kitatsuru Tsubasa and Olympic silver medallist Fushimi Toshiaki.

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