NILAI: National women’s track cyclist Fatehah Mustapa was able to breathe a sigh of relief as she
won the silver medal for the sprint event at the 2019 Southeast Asia Track Cup Grand Prix Championships at the National Velodrome here on Thursday.
The 30-year-old said she was pleased when her success on Thursday day showed she was capable of meeting the key
performance index (KPI) set by the National Sports Council.
“So hopefully, this is a boost for myself to get back up and get ready to go to the Asian Track Championships in South Korea this October,” she said when met by reporters here.
Indonesian rider Crismonita Dwi Putri emerged the winner of the event with a time of 11.511s, edging Fatehah, who finished with a time of 13.092s.
Fatehah was one of four track cyclists under the Podium Programme who had a poor spell of performances and were given until October to prove they deserved to remain under the programme and not have their allowances cancelled.
She also proved her mettle after clocking in with her personal best time this year of 11.248s in the qualifying round, since recording her all-time personal best of 11.1s at the 2015 World Cup series in Paris.
Meanwhile, national track cycling ace Mohd Azizulhasni Awang, who competed under his own team, easily beat Korea’s Park Jeone with a time of 11.347s in the final.
The athlete known as The Pocket Rocketman said his success was the result of a set strategy.
“It may seem like I won easily, but it’s all the result of my setting up a trap for him. So thank God, that everything turned out okay, so now, I want to focus on
tomorrow’s event.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom failed to get a podium finish, settling for fourth place in the event. – Bernama
