KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) will continue to send two talented national women racers Eddyna Nasuhar Zainal Abidin and Siti Shahirah Hashim to race at the international level to hone their talents in the BMX discipline.
MNCF president Datuk Abu Samah Abd Wahab said MNCF was banking on the two Terengganu-born racers to win at least a bronze medal to enable them to qualify to the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines in the A category.
At the 2019 Asia BMX Cycling Championship in Nilai recently, Eddyna Nasuhar almost won a bronze medal in the women’s junior category but lost out in the race to the finishing line while Siti Shahirah was injured.
Abu Samah said nervousness and lack of experience were the reasons for Eddyna Nasuhar’s failure in the fight for the bronze medal despite having a chance to succeed.
“I saw the Thai cyclists succeeded in disturbing Eddyna’s focus as there were three of them in the tussle for the medal. However, I believe Eddyna has the talent to go far in the BMX discipline.
‘’Malaysia was also unfortunate because Siti ShahIrah, who won the bronze medal at the 2018 ACC BMX in Thailand, was injured when racing. But, with the success of Eddyna, we have two very talented BMX racers,’’ he said in a media statement Tuesday.
At the championship, Eddyna Nasuhar recorded 41.454 seconds for fifth place. Japanese racer, Jui Yabuta won the gold medal in 34.102s, followed by Tanaporn Tothong and Panatda Buranaphawang from Thailand, each winning a silver and a bronze medal, after recording 37.764s and 39.792s. – Bernama
