Tournaments to boost quality of local Keirin riders

NST Online » Sport

2008/09/13

Tournaments to boost quality of local Keirin riders

By Arnaz M. Khairularnaz@nst.com.my

Email to friend Print article

THREE years of dominance of keirin events at the Asian Cycling Championships has led to the belief that more can come out of Malaysia, beginning with the Keirin Open at the Kuala Lumpur Velodrome tonight.

Evolving out of national back-up squad coach Fairoz Izni Abdul Ghani's idea and the demand for track races, this event is funded mainly by contributors from within the cycling fraternity.

Malaysia's two Asian keirin champions -- Rizal Tisin (2006) and Azizul Hasni Awang (2007 and 2008) are also expected to make an appearance.

More than 30 riders from the back-up squads for sprints and endurance events, and several state centres of excellence will be competing in the second round tonight.

The first round was held as a closed event last month where riders from the back-up squad competed against each other, with former national rider Hafiz Sufian bagging the title.
"We're trying to work out an event each month of the year, so that the trainees based locally have something to look forward to as even international events are hard to come by," said Fairoz.

"Even when there are international events, only a limited number of our riders get to compete in them. So, we need to boost the activity locally."

Apart from the keirin, a points race will also be held as a side event, featuring riders from the road and endurance squads, with the event beginning at 10.30pm.

"This is a one off late night event, to suit the needs of the fasting month. We'll be holding it earlier after this," said Fairoz.