Azizulhasni Awang bounced back from a disappointing bronze in the individual sprint to claim gold for Malaysia in the men’s keirin at the Asian Games, with yet another dramatic victory in his glittering career.
The Pocket Rocketman was drawn in the middle of the line, directly behind Han Xie, but with three strong contenders behind him.
First Minato Nakaishi, then Zhiwei Li moved up from behind, squeezing Awang out the back – and suddenly the Malaysian pair of Awang and Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom found themselves at the rear.
Meanwhile at the front, Li was beginning to open up a gap, with Nakaishi holding the black line. Awang tussled with Han just behind, and was forced wide as they entered the last lap.
But the Malaysian superstar had all the momentum into the back straight, claiming the black line ahead of Nakaishi and closing the gap on Li. He couldn’t… could he? Come on, of course he could.
Li pressed hard, squeezing out the last of his energy, but the Pocket Rocketman was on fire. For a moment it looked like the pair might come together, but Awang corrected his course, and had enough momentum left – and enough strength in his throw for the line – to move in front in the final few metres, for yet another memorable triumph.
Behind, Han came over the top of Nakaishi to claim bronze.
‘At my age, every medal means a lot to me,’ he said afterwards (quoted in scoop.my). ‘I’m racing against riders who are much younger and physically very strong, so I’m proud that I can still compete with them at this level.’
But it’s likely that this gold may mean a little more than some others in his collection, with his father figure John Beasley expected to retire from his leadership of the Malaysian track programme in the coming months.
