BRUNEI’S national cyclist Nurjamri Johari bowed out of the quarterfinal stage in the Men’s Sprint event to eventual winner Malaysia’s Mohd Azizulhasni bin Awang in the 29th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games at the National Velodrome in Nilai yesterday.
Azizulhasni, mindful that the workload will be hectic in future races, conserved some energy and was toying with Nurjamri letting him in with a sniff but not more than that.
The Malaysian’s quality was eventually told after pulling away from the Bruneian rider quite comfortably in the first round.
The current world keirin champion pushed the trigger and continued toying with Nurjamri in the second round to secure a comfortable win.
Meanwhile, national cyclist Azmi Abd Hadzid was awarded with no points in the final standings of the Men’s Omnium event.
On the other quarter-finals duels in the Men’s Sprint, M Shah Firdaus Sahrom turned on the style after Singapore’s Lance Tan pulled the trigger early while Thailand’s Worayuut Kapunya took it to a decider after a tactical masterclass against Indonesia’s Puguh Admadi.
However, in the third round, Admadi composed himself and after a pulsating race which saw both riders neck to neck it was the Indonesian who joined Sahrom, Awang and Jaturong Niwanti in the semi-finals of the individual pursuit competition.
Admadi went from the inside as Niwanti rode from the outside in the race as both ended with a photo finish.
Thailand’s Niwanti gained an early advantage with the first round win after all the controversy and a delayed start as well as a restart in the battle for bronze.
In the gold medal match, both riders went with full pace early on as the world champion had pace to make up against his compatriot Sahrom.
Azizulhasni, on the outside, survived a minor scare from Sahrom before leaving it late and showing his world class level to pass him on the line.
The self-styled Pocket Rocketman personified a cool customer after showing a temperament which stood him in good stead in high-pressured environments such as the World Championships.
Azizulhasni needed to use all his resources to get him on time and could probably be a bit surprised on Sahrom’s lightning speed.
Meanwhile in the Men’s Omnium race, Calvin Sim provided one of Singapore’s greatest cycling triumphs of all time after taking the gold medal in the backyard of their rivals.
It was delight for Singapore for whom the tactics in the Men’s Omnium was simply inspirational.
The early move that Calvin made along with his team-mates was part of a conservative tactical plan because Choon Huat Goh went with him and faded away.
His team-mate helped drive him into a monstrous lap that got him into the bonus points which blew the leaderboard wide open as the Malaysians were simply not alive to the move.
Calvin, who has been one of the busiest athletes entering multiple events, somehow found the energy to dethrone the man who many thought would walk away with Malaysia’s fourth gold of the day.
Sofian Nabil Omar bin Mohd Bakri made a move as he tried to size up the middle pack in the hopes of catching Calvin Sim in the Omnium race with four laps to go.
Meanwhile on another scene, the Indonesians riders were having problems of their own colliding with each other and skirting off the track.
Sofian, who settled for silver, had to cope with the disappointment of being a rare Malaysian not being able to bring back gold in a cycling event on home soil.
Malaysia who appeared to be so dominant across all the disciplines seemed to have trouble conquering the Omnium event despite Sofian scoring 10 points in a dramatic conclusion to the race.
Indonesia’s Nandra Eko Wahyudi remarkably managed to clinch bronze despite coming off his bike during the points race.
Choon Goh’s contributions should not come unnoticed too who played a big part in the Singaporean effort to beat the Malaysians at their own game and at their own track.
Back to the Men’s Sprint’s race, Azizulhasni took the inside line before finishing the job and ending the challenge of Sahrom to take gold and Malaysia’s 111th in this Games.
The bronze medal went to Jaturong Niwanti of Thailand after overcoming Indonesia’s Puguh Admadi.
