FATEHAH Mustapa moved a step closer towards becoming the first Malaysian woman cyclist to qualify for the Olympics when she finished sixth in the keirin final in Round Two of the UCI World Cup in Cali, Colombia, early yesterday.
Fatehah Mustapa finished sixth in the keirin at the UCI World Cup in Colombia yesterday.
That result came on the back of Fatehah's ninth place in the women's scratch race on Saturday which booked her spot in the World Championships in that event.
Fresh from her triple gold medal haul at the Sea Games in Indonesia just a week earlier, Fatehah looks in good form to seal Olympic qualification in the women's keirin in the third round of the World Cup in Beijing next month.
National team manager Datuk Naim Mohamad said the team, trimmed to just three main riders to focus on Olympic qualification, have had a good start to the UCI World Cup season with Azizul Hasni Awang also showing good form upon his return from injury.
"Azizul won the classification race to finish fifth in the 200m sprint in Cali. He also finished fifth in the keirin, while Josiah Ng also collected points in that event. So, overall, with Fatehah showing that she too is ready to step up, we are looking good to pass the first hurdle of confirming our Olympic spots," said Naim.
Having qualified 14th, Azizul beat France's Mickael d'Almeida in the last 16 stage and made it to the quarter-finals of the 200m sprint where he lost to Germany's Rene Enders.
He then beat Philip Njisane of Trinidad and Tobago, Hersony Canelon of Venezuela and Poland's Damien Zielinski in the classification heat to finish fifth.
"We're pretty confident Azizul will be back to his best soon. But what is more impressive is Fatehah's rise this season. She has really matured and is slowly making her mark in the World Cup series this year.
"We were really expecting her to make a serious attempt for the 2016 Olympics. An Olympic spot would nevertheless be a boost for women's cycling," said Naim.
NST
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