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Wednesday May 20, 2009

Rizal won’t get chance to win Asian Games time trial gold

By LIM TEIK HUAT

PETALING JAYA: Cyclist Rizal Tisin will not get the chance to deliver what could be a certain Asian Games gold medal for Malaysia as the 1km time trial event will not be contested in Guangzhou next year.

The organisers have dropped the discipline from the men’s track cycling programme in favour of BMX cycling. But, surprisingly, the women’s 500m time trial event will still be contested.

Rizal: Currently the best Asian rider in the 1km time trial event.

If the times Rizal had clocked in the 1km time trial over the last 12 months are any indication, he would have been the undisputed favourite to claim the gold event.

Rizal has consistently lowered his personal best and is also the only Asian rider to have dipped under the 1:02 barrier.

He clocked 1:01.658 to become the first Malaysian to win a medal, a bronze, in the World Championships in Poland in March. The time also broke his Asian record of 1:02.409.

Understandably, Rizal, was disappointed over the ommision of the event by the Asiad organisers. After all, winning gold in the Asian Games would earn him at least RM80,000 under the National Sports Council reward scheme.

“The 1km time trial has always been contested in the Asian Games,” said the 24-year-old, who on Sunday was named the Selangor Sportsman for the second consecutive year based on his achievement in winning gold in the Asian Championships in Japan last year.

“Not having it in Guangzhou is a blow for Malaysia because we are finally in with a good chance for gold in the event.

“Maybe China felt they have no chance to win the 1km time trial. They have Li Wenhao (World Cup overall winner) and he is my closest contender at the moment. But he is not so consistent and I should get the gold as long as I come close to my personal best. But we never know now.

“There is only the Common-wealth Games gold medal to aim for now.”

Despite this, the World Cup winner said that he would try his best to help Malaysia bag the team sprint gold medal.

“We are ranked ahead of Japan and China after the world championships. The work is cut out for us to maintain this towards the Asian Games. There is also the options to aim for the individual sprint and keirin but that is up to the coach (John Beasley),” he said.

At the last Asiad in Doha in 2006, Rizal competed in the keirin.

For the record, Daud Ibrahim and Ng Joo Ngan are the only Malaysian gold medallists in Asiad cycling thus far. They achieved the feat in Bangkok in 1970 and Malaysia only ended their medal drought when Josiah Ng took silver in the sprint in 2002 Busan Games. Josiah repeated the silver medal feat in Doha.

But this is the least of Rizal’s worries as he may have to stay off training for some time to recover from a suspected fracture on his left elbow.

“I suspected it could have happened when we were training in Valencia before the Olympics last year,” said Rizal, who is only returning to the training base in Melbourne in September.

“It did not hurt any bit that time but I started to feel pain recently and it was discovered during a scan. I have to consult the doctor further as I may have to go for surgery.”

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