Thailand ace breaks Japan's dominance in ACC BMX 2022

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 (Bernama) -- Thailand BMX cycling ace Komet Sukprasert clinched the men’s elite gold at the ACC BMX 2022 to break the dominance of Japanese riders at the National BMX Arena in Malaysia's southwestern state of Negeri Sembilan on Saturday. All the other events in the men’s and women’s events were won by Japanese riders. In the men’s elite event, Sukprasert overcame two Indonesian participants - Gusti Bagus Saputra and Yusri Wakhidur Rizal - to take the gold while Malaysian rider Yohannes Larenza Maehian finished in seventh spot. "This is a very meaningful victory as it provides qualifying points for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. However, I will have to collect more points from future competitions to qualify," said Sukprasert in a statement from the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF). Sukprasert becomes the only rider from outside Japan to win a gold medal in the championships. Japanese riders who came into the championships as favourites, lived up to their top billing by sweeping the women’s elite, men’s and women’s Under-23, junior boys and girls titles. Kanami Tano captured the women’s elite gold after beating Indonesia’s Amellya Nur Sifa while Thailand’s Chutikan Kitwanitsathian took the bronze. Ryo Shimada and Jui Yabota won the men’s Under-23 and women’s Under-23 gold medals while Hyoga Kiuchi and Neneka Nishimura took the boys and girls titles respectively. Malaysian riders won bronze medals in both events through Amer Akbar Anuar (men U-23) and Eddyna Nasuhar Zainal Abidin (women’s U-23). Meanwhile, Japan’s BMX Cycling coach Masa Sampei said their mission here was to win as many gold medals as possible and earn qualifying points to the 2024 Olympics in Paris. "Our mission here has been successful. Now we have to maintain the momentum to qualify for Paris,” he said. -- BERNAMA