PUTRAJAYA - After repeating his two-gold feat at the Asian Track Cycling Championships (ACC) 2023 last month, cycling ace Datuk Mohd Azizulhasni Awang is now setting his sights on winning the keirin title at the World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland from Aug 3-12.
Mohd Azizulhasni, nicknamed The Pocket Rocketman, feels that his achievement at the ACC would serve as the tonic for him to repeat his gold medal ride at the 2017 world meet in Hong Kong. The 35-year-old rider is confident of beating 11-time world championship winner Harrie Lavreysen in Glasgow.
"When I raced against Lavreysen previously, my performance seemed far behind his, but my feat at the Asian meet has made me feel ‘wow’, it’s a good indicator to challenge him. "My goal is definitely to win gold because this may be my last world championship,” he said when met yesterday.
The Tokyo Olympics 2020 keirin silver medallist said the national track cycling team would leave for Spain tomorrow to undergo final preparations and acclimatisation for a week before proceeding to Glasgow.
Mohd Azizulhasni’s keirin and sprint victories at the ACC in Nilai propelled him to third in world ranking for keirin and sixth for sprint.
His exploits in Nilai were a repeat of his double triumph in the 2008 edition in Nara, Japan, and took his personal tally at ACC to 12 individual golds. - BERNAMA