KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 — Former national track cycling ace Josiah Ng believes Mohd Azizulhasni Awang can maintain his world number one ranking in the men’s keirin category.
However, he said Malaysia should have more cyclists like the “Pocket Rocketman” and not rely on him alone.
“We don’t want to rely only on Azizulhasni because Azizulhasni may have ‘that day’. He is a champion... he is one in 30 million but there are others like him, that we have no idea about.
“And it’s up to us with the system that we have now, to identify more cyclists like Azizulhasni. That’s a challenge we need to face, it won’t happen overnight, we have to build a machine first to turn out the champion,” he said.
Ng said besides Azizulhasni, young cyclists with outstanding performance like Muhd Shah Firdaus Sahrom need to be built to be comparable with other top national cyclists.
He said Muhd Shah Firdaus had all the ingredients to be the next champion but he needed to be built up nicely within a few years.
“Shah Firdaus... he is a diamond in the rough. I was fortunate to train a year with him. He has all the ingredients to be the next champion. He needs at least a couple of years before he can be a consistent top champion.
“It will take a while to build him... like Azizulhasni, he didn’t perform when he was 19 and 20 years old, he took a few years to mature. Shah Firdaus is not yet world class, but he has the potential,” Ng said.
Josiah, 36, had competed in the Olympics in Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008) and was a reserve rider for the London Olympics (2012).
The Sarawakian, who was born in Manila, qualified for the final of the keirin in Athens, becoming the first Malaysian to do so, where he finished fifth. His success earned him the Sportsman of the Year title for 2004 and Olympian of the Year 2004 by the Olympic Council of Malaysia. — Bernama
