Thursday February 23, 2012

Sime Darby scholarship for champ Fatehah

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian track cyclist Fatehah Mustapa can look forward to starting a business career once her cycling days are over.

The newly-crowned Asian keirin champion, who stepped out to make a name for herself after completing her SPM exams, became the third recipient of the Sime Darby Foundation ‘Star’ scholarship award yesterday.

The award, worth RM400,000 will enable her to pursue her tertiary education in Melbourne, where she is based with the national elite track team preparing for the London Olympics.

Fatehah will further her education for six years on a part-time basis, starting in September after the Olympics.

The scholarship includes a two-year foundation course and another four years to pursue a degree in Business Marketing at Victoria University.

For the future: Fatehah Mustapa posing with the mock RM400,000 cheque from Sime Darby with her father Mustapa Kassin and mother Esah Isa.

The 23-year-old Fatehah, who became Malaysia’s first woman winner at an Asian Cycling Championships after winning the keirin final in Cheras recently, said she was honoured to be the second cyclist to be given a scholarship after her Terengganu team-mate Azizulhasni Awang.

Azizul was awarded RM456,000 to study Sports Science Management in Melbourne in 2010 followed by Malaysia’s top woman amateur golfer Kelly Tan, who received RM339,000 to study in Florida, United States.

“I hope to excel in academics and sports. I am motivated to be one of the best female cyclists in the world and, at the same time, hold a degree in the field of business marketing as this is something for me to fall back on later.

“I believe this will be a plus point for every athlete to secure their future beyond sports,” said Fatehah, who flew home on Tuesday night after taking part in the final leg of the World Cup in London.

Fatehah, a triple gold medallist at the SEA Games last year, is assured qualification for the keirin discipline in the London Olympics in August due to her feat at the Asian meet.

She also became the first Malaysian woman to qualify for the keirin final at the world meet in Holland last year and is the only woman cyclist in the Road to London programme.

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