All eyes on Azizulhasni, Shah Firdaus after poor day at the pool
Published on: Saturday, August 10, 2024
By: FMT
‘Pocket Rocketman’ Azizulhasni Awang (left) and Shah Firdaus Sahrom will be the ones to watch at the keirin event at the Paris Olympics.
PETALING JAYA: Cyclists Azizulhasni Awang and Shah Firdaus Sahrom take centre stage in the keirin event at the Paris Olympics today, after Malaysia’s divers ended their campaign without a medal.
The keirin specialists will be in action following their sprint events at the Saint Quentin-en-Yvelines National Velodrome, hoping to win the country’s first-ever Olympics gold.
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The first round and repechage of the event is scheduled for tonight (Malaysian time), and the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals will be held on Sunday, Bernama reported.
Yesterday, track cyclist Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri started her challenge in the women’s sprint event with a bang when she broke her national record, before being eliminated in the 1/32 repechage round.
Nurul Izzah, 20, clocked 10.709s in the qualifying round, surpassing the record of 10.903s she had set at the Asian Cycling Championships in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, last year.
At the Olympic Aquatic Centre, diver Nur Dhabitah Sabri finished last among the 12 finalists in the women’s 3m springboard event.
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She could only manage 244.80 points after five dives. China’s Chen Yiwen scored 376.00 points to win gold and maintain her country’s dominance in the event since the 1988 Seoul Games.
Earlier, the Olympic debut of Bertrand Rhodict Lises ended in disappointment when he failed to reach the semi-finals of the men’s 10m platform event.
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The 19-year-old Sarawakian finished 25th out of 26 participants in the preliminary round after scoring 313.70 points in six jumps. Only the best 18 divers advanced to the semi-finals today.
Malaysia won their first medal in diving at the 2012 London Olympics, with Pandelela Rinong snatching the bronze in the women’s 10m platform, and silver at the 2016 Rio Games in the 10m platform synchronised event through Pandelela and Cheong Jun Hoong, but failed to maintain that momentum in the 2020 edition.
With just two days left before the Paris Games comes to a close, Malaysia have only won two bronze medals in badminton, contributed by Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (men’s doubles) and Lee Zii Jia (men’s singles).
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