THERE was to be no repeat of the 2004 Athens Olympic experience after Malaysian cyclists Josiah Ng and Azizul Hasni Awang failed in their bids to reach the keirin final at the Laoshan Velodrome yesterday.
And it looked like goodbye to Malaysia's hopes of stealing a cycling medal as the keirin was their best chance to do so.
Josiah finished third in his first round heat but earned automatic qualification to join Edgar Ross of Britain, who was fastest, into the next round after second-placed Roberto Chiappa of Italy was disqualified for a technical infraction.
But the 28-year-old's hopes of achieving a second appearance in the top six final of his pet race was dashed when he found his racing line blocked by two Australians, Shane Kelly and defending champion Ryan Bayley from the start.
Josiah was frantically pedalling away towards the final lap but the gap between him and the frontrunners was too wide.
Chris Hoy of Britain, the reigning world champion, finished first followed by Kelly and former world champion Arnaud Tournant of France.
“I rode my heart out but it was not to be my day,” said Josiah, who eventually finished ninth overall.
Olympic debutant Azizul had started on a strong note when he won his heat racing against the likes of 1km time trial world champion Teun Mulder of Holland and Asian Games gold medallist Feng Yong of China.
In the second round, there was a bit of drama when the front wheel of former Dutch world champion Theo Bos's bike gave way and Poland’s Kuczynski Kamil was brought down as a result.
A restart was ordered and with only four riders remaining, Azizul only had to avoid finishing last to secure a place the final.
But he mistimed his move and it was too late for him to catch up. Ross qualified fastest for the final followed by Nagai Kiyofumi of Japan and German Carsten Bergemann. Azizul, the double Asian champion, finished 10th overall.
He still has the 200m sprint to look forward and will go through the qualifying rounds today but realistically, a top eight is the best he can hope for.
Hoy led Britain to a 1-2 finish when he beat team-mate Ross in the final while the bronze went to Kiyofumi.
Star
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