Cycling : Young Amirull Scores A Triple By Arnaz M.Khairul (NST) 2/12/2008

Maniam Manikkam

THE biggest turnout yet in the series at the third leg of the SportExcel National Junior Circuit at the Kuala Lumpur Velodrome on Sunday did serve to raise some questions, but they were somewhat quashed by a little known Terengganu rider.

Just when the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) was eyeing improvements in equipment for the track sector of their regional and state centres, a scintillating show by Terengganu youngster Nur Amirull Fakhruddin Mazuki stated that wasn't entirely necessary.

MNCF vice president Maniam Manikkam said the concern now is the technical and equipment aspects of development, which as of now isn't as far reaching as the road programme.

"Even district associations like the Dungun CA (DDCA) and our regional centres are starting to have bigger pools of young riders, but doing it for track cycling is going to be tricky," said Maniam.

"Equipment must be available to the riders. Not all teams have track bicycles. Most smaller associations have to borrow the National Sports Council's (NSC) bikes to race, so we must wonder what they do for training," said Maniam.

A proposal for all state centres of excellence to be supplied with at least three more track bicycles will be made by the MNCF, Maniam said.

"We will make the request to the NSC. Whether this happens depends on the budget they can make available," he added.

On track over the weekend, Terengganu's new find, 15-year-old Amirull showed that a little more heart and passion too could go a long way with his sweep of three gold medals.

Training without the use of a velodrome and limited use of a track bicycle, Amirull clocked a reasonably fast 37s flat to bag the Under-16 500m time trial.

If that wasn't enough, Amirull rode at a 48kph average speed to bag the scratch race, then took 11 of the 33 intermediate sprint points on offer to win the points race.

Amirull overcame challengers from the NSC, Bandar Penawar Sports School (BPSS) and Regional Back-up Centres (RBC), who were far better equipped than himself, in all three of his gold medal events.

RESULTS: Boys -- Under-18 200m sprint, Final: Fattah Amri Zaid (NSC) bt Jauhar Ikhwan Ismail (NSC) 2-1; Third: 1 Ahmad Fakhrillah Alisi (NSC) bt Zulhilme Arif Ahmad (NSC) 2-0.

1km time trial: 1 Ahmad Fakhrillah Alisi (NSC) 1:12.570s, 2 Jauhar Ikhwan Ismail (NSC) 1:13.976s, 3 Shahrul Afiza Fauzan (NSC) 1:14.350s.

3km individual pursuit: 1 Shahrul Afiza Fauzan (NSC) 3:57.190s, 2 Yusrizal Yusof (NSC) 3:59.710s, 3 Nik Mohd Azwan Nik Zulkifli (Pja) 3:58.680s.

Scratch race: 1 Saufi Senan (NSC) 5:41.59s (15 laps), 2 Yusrizal Usoff (NSC), 3 Hafiz Zarawi (KL).

6km points race: 1 Shahrul Afiza Fauzan (NSC) 26 points, 2 Yusrizal Usoff (NSC) 18, 3 Mohd Hafiz Zarawi (KL) 12.

Under-16 -- 200m sprint, final: Mohd Arfy Qhairant (RBC) bt Harif Muslin (KL) 2-0; Third: Syariwan Shaari (NS)bt Mohd Fahmi Irfan Mohd Zailani (Dungun) 2-0.

Team sprint: 1 Wan Syazwan Afiq, Sofian Nabil Omar, Mohd Arfy Qhairant (RBC) 1:10.85s, 2 Mohd Asmui Ali, Syaffiq Amran, Mustakim Abdul Dadu (Ter) 1:14.97s, 3 Abdul Azim Latif, Faiz Izuddin Omar, Amirul Fahmi Azman (Sel) 1:16.05s.

500m time trial: 1 Nur Amirull Fakhruddin Mazuki (Ter) 37.00s, 2 Mohd Arfy Qhairant (RBC) 38.800s, 3 Mohd Ekbar Zaman Hori (NS) 39.100s.

3km individual pursuit: 1 Mohd Syazwan Afiq (BPSS) bt Mohd Firdaus Suardi (RBC) overlapped in final; 3 Abdul Azim Latif (Sel) 4:12.510s.

3km team pursuit: 1 Wan Syazwan Afiq, Sofian Nabil Omar, Mohd Amirul Anuar, Mohd Arfy Qhairant (RBC) 3:42.79s, 2 Mohd Asmui Ali, Syafiq Amran, Mustakim Abdul Dadu, Naimi Ngah (Ter) 3:54.67s; 3 Abdul Azim Latif, Faiz Izuddin Omar, Amirul Fahmi Azman, Syahmi Azizi Saidi (Sel) 4:05.60s.

Scratch race: 1 Nur Amirul Fakhruddin (Ter) 7:08.88s (15 laps), 2 Mohd Arfy Qhairant (RBC), 3 Mohd Firdaus Suardi (RBC).

6km points race: 1 Nur Amirull Fakhruddin Mazuki (Ter) 11 points, 2 Faiz Izuddin Omar (Sel) 8, 3 Khairul Aziz Abdullah (Ter) 7.

Girls -- Under-18, 500m time trial: 1 Nurul Ahmar Badeuzzaman (NSC) 41.12s, 2 Azmanira Mohamad (Dungun) 48.40s.

Under-16 -- 200m sprint, Final: Zahrah Anuawar (NSC) bt Narissa Sompong (NSC) 2-0; Third: Siti Nur Hajar Wilda (Sel) bt NorSyahmira Anis Saidi (Sel) 2-0.

500m time trial: 1 Zahrah Anuawar (NSC) 41.550s, 2 Narissa Sompong (NSC) 41.934s, 3 Nurul Syafinas Mokhlas (Sel) 43.270s.

2km invidual pursuit: 1 Narissa Sompong (NSC) 2:57.364s, 2 Nurul Syafinas Mokhlas (Sel) 3:02.130s, 3 Nur Farah Ain Amran (Sel) 3:10.691s.

Scratch race: 1 Narissa Sompong (NSC) 4:42.98s (9 laps), 2 Zahrah Anuawar (NSC), 3 Norsyamira Anis Saidi (Sel).

6km points race: Narissa Sompong (NSC) 16 points, 2 Zahrah Anuawar (NSC) 15, 3 Siti Nur Hajar Wilda (Sel) 7.