Olympic Day 8 : Cycling - Azizulhasni, Josiah Flop In Keirin Challenge

BEIJING, Aug 16 (Bernama) - National cyclist Azizulhasni Awang and Josiah Ng made promising starts but ended in a cloud of disappointment after both failed to qualify for the Olympics keirin final at the Laoshan Velodrome Saturday.

Azizul, the Asian keirin and sprint champion, finished 10th while Ng was ninth.

"I rode my heart out," said Ng who had finished sixth in Athens. The 28-year-old reckons he still has another two Olympics in him.

Azizulhasni had only three rivals in his second round heat but the pint-sized Terengganu rider bungled when he found himself trapped behind the group coming into the last corner.

His desperate attempt to cut out was blocked by Edgar Ross of Great Britain, Kiyofumi Nagai of Japan and Carsten Bergemann of Germany, who all qualified into the final from the heat.

Team manager Abu Samah Abdul Wahab said Azizulhasni's bid was wrecked by a wrong tactic because he did not follow coach John Beasley's order to stay in front.

The heat was depleted after Polish rider Kamil Kuczynski's bicycle flipped soon after the start and Dutch former world champion Theo Bos went smack into him.

Ng has tough company in current world champion and eventual gold winner Chris Hoy of Great Britain and Australians, Ryan Bayley and Kelly Shane in his second round heat.

Bayley, the gold winner for the individual sprit and keirin in Athens, played sacrifical hare for Shane to get upfront and ended up second, sandwiched between Hoy and Frenchman Arnaud Tournant to enter the final.

In the first round, Azizulhasni had Shane breathing down on him to the finish line in Heat 2 but the Malaysian held on stubbornly to arrive first.

Ng, initially placed third in Heat 3, was moved up to second to advance into the next round after second-placed Italian, Roberto Chiappa was relegated for pushing Nagai.

The Japanese came back from the repechage to make it into the second round and he took the bronze behind the 1-2 finish by Great Britain, with Ross Edgar taking the silver.

Of the three events entered by Malaysia, the national cyclists had high hopes of making the keirin six-man final.

Azizulhasni has a final event Sunday. He is the sole Malaysian rider in the 200m sprint.

Friday, he had teamed up with Ng and Rizal Tisin in the team sprint and the trio smashed the national record in finishing seventh fastest in the qualifying round, although they did not make headway after that.

-- BERNAMA