Hong Kong International Track Cup: Malaysia’s Azizulhasni Awang backs heir apparent after sprint and keirin double
- Double Olympic medallist, set to retire after the Paris Games next year, tips Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom to ‘take up my legacy’
- Azizul wins sprint and keirin on return to Hong Kong Velodrome, where he won World Championships gold in 2017
Azizul won twice, in the men’s sprint and keirin, on the opening day of the three-day Hong Kong International Track Cup on Friday, and for the former the 35-year-old had compatriot Shah Firdaus, who won bronze, standing next to him on the podium.
“I need not worry about my retirement, because Sahrom will take up my legacy,” Azizul said.
“We do have a few more [coming up], but he’s the only one at the world level now. Sahrom has won medals at the Asian Championship as well as the Commonwealth Games last year – he’s up at the world standard.
“The rest are still one or two steps behind, [but] hopefully we have our next champion already.”
Two-time Olympic medallist Azizul, who won silver and bronze respectively in the keirin at the Tokyo and Rio Games, has form at Hong Kong Velodrome: he won the keirin there to claim his only global title, at the 2017 UCI Track Cycling World Championships.
