Malaysians Azizul, Muhammad Shah To Take Part In First Leg Of UCI World Cup Meet

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 (Bernama) -- Rio de Janeiro Olympics bronze medallist, Mohd Azizulhasni Awang and Muhammad Shah Firdaus Shahrom will compete in the first leg of the International Cycling Union (UCI) Track Cycling World Cup in Glasgow, Scotland from Nov 4 to 6. National track cycling head coach John Beasley said he decided to give a chance to Muhammad Shah since young rider had impressed him during their training stint in Melbourne, Australia, a couple months ago. "No target has been set for both riders as I want them to enjoy the competition. For me, Muhammad Shah has shown good progress during training and hopefully he will gain valuable experience when competing with the best cyclists in the tournament," he told Bernama, recently. Apeldoorn in the Netherlands will host the second leg of the championships from Nov 11 to 13, followed by Cali, Colombia (Feb 17 to 19, 2017) before it concludes with the final leg in Los Angeles, United States from Feb 25 to 26, 2017. On Azizul's current performance, Beasley said he was delighted to see a major improvement in the rider (also known as 'The Pocket Rocketman') especially in terms of muscle development and his weight as he is vying for a gold in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. On another note, Beasley revealed that he has picked eight young riders, comprising six boys and two girls from the National Sports Council squad to undergo intensive training in Melbourne, Australia beginning this month. Without revealing the names of the riders, Beasley noted that the training was part of his plans to prepare for the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games. "I have placed high expectations on them to finish on the podium in the SEA Games which will be a kick start to their career before going to major tournaments. We have also started a four-year programme heading towards the 2020 Tokyo Olympics," Beasley added. -- BERNAMA