Nurul Izzah wants to be as good as Mohd Azizulhasni

Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri
06/07/2022 05:15 PM

By Ahmad Nazrin Syahmi Mohamad Arif

KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 (Bernama) - National women's track cyclist and Asian champion, Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri wants to follow in the footsteps of her idol, national champion Datuk Mohd Azizulhasni Awang, in pursuing her dream of becoming the world's best rider.

The 19-year-old, who hails from Jitra, Kedah, said winning the World Championships and winning a medal at the Olympics are her coveted targets in her career, just like what Mohd Azizulhasni has achieved so far.

However, her desire to be a teammate of her idol, who was the silver medalist at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in the keirin, in her debut at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games next month, unfortunately cannot be realised as Mohd Azizulhasni is unable to compete in Birmingham.

"In Malaysia, Azizulhasni Awang is my idol and guide to achieve my goals. I hope to win the world championships and the Olympics. But we haven't had a chance to work together as a team because I'm new, by the time I joined (the team) he was out of it.

"I only met him once, but did not chat, just exchanged pleasantries," Nurul Izzah , who is one of the newcomers in the national track cycling squad, told Bernama recently.

Mohd Azizulhasni, who is the 2017 world champion Iin the keirin and also won the bronze medal in the same event at the Rio 2016 Olympics, is now in the recovery phase after undergoing open heart surgery in April and has to miss out on the action in Birmingham.

However, Mohd Azizulhasni will still 'accompany' her to Birmingham as she holds close to her heart some advice the 'Pocket Rocketman' gave during a previous meeting with him.

"At that time, there was a meeting between us junior riders and him. He told me to train hard, don't be lazy and work hard," said the women's 500 metre (m) time trial gold medalist with a record of 35.499 seconds (s) at the Asian Track Cycling Championships (ACC) in New Delhi, India, last month. .

At the ACC, she also won bronze in the keirin event, thus creating a sensation and is considered the new gem in the national track cycling squad.

Meanwhile, on preparations for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games which is scheduled to be held from July 28 to Aug 8, she does not know the events that she will be participating in other than the women's team sprint.

“Before this, I have competed in four events - team sprint, sprint, keirin and 500m time trial but for the Commonwealth Games it is not certain. My pet event is the 500m time trial, ”said Nurul Izzah, who expects fierce competition from Great Britain and Australian riders in Birmingham.

In Birmingham, if entrusted to compete in the 500m time trial, Nurul Izzah aims to break the national record of 34.542s held by former national track cycling queen Fatehah Mustapa after she had recorded 34.668s at the National Track Championships in December last year.

The national track cycling squad to Birmingham, which aims to bring home at least one medal, consists of three male and three female athletes with both the men and women's teams being a combination of experienced and novice riders.

The three male riders are Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom, Muhammad Fadhil Mohd Zonis and Muhammad Ridwan Sahrom while the female riders are Anis Amira Rosidi, Nurul Aliana Syafika Azizan and Nurul Izzah.

-- BERNAMA