KUALA LUMPUR – National track cyclist Nurul Izzah Izzati Asri showed marked improvement in the women’s keirin after finishing eighth at the Nations Cup in Milton, Canada earlier today.
In the first round, the 21-year-old finished second place in Heat 1 and went on to the repechage, where she won her heat to advance to the second round at the Mattamy National Cycling Centre.
Unfortunately for the Kedahan, she faced tough competition in her subsequent heat, with former sprint world champion Mathilde Gros of France and sprint silver medalist Ellesse Andrews from New Zealand.
Nurul Izzah ultimately finished dead last in the six-women heat.
In the 7th-12th place classification race, the petit Jitra-born cyclist finished second for her best result in this year’s Nations Cup series.
Previously in the Adelaide and Hong Kong legs, Nurul Izzah was eliminated from the keirin at the first round repechage.
Her sterling performance in Milton has provisionally qualified her for the Paris Olympics in July in the sprint and keirin.
Earlier in the tournament, she exited the women’s sprint at the 1/16 round, losing to eventual bronze medallist Luz Daniela Gaxiola Gonzalez from Mexico.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Ridwan Sahrom missed advancing into the 1/16 finals of the men’s sprint by just .008 seconds at the Nations Cup today.
Ridwan recorded a time of 10.023s to finish 29th out of 40 riders. Only the top 28 make it to the next round.
Jean Spies of South Africa beat Ridwan to the final qualifying spot after posting a time of 10.015s to record the 28th fastest time.
However, Ridwan improved his qualifying time from the previous leg in Hong Kong, where he posted a time of 10.027s for 30th place.
In the keirin earlier, Ridwan finished fourth in Heat 4 of the first round, which meant he had to go through the repechage.
There, the 23-year-old missed out on advancing to the second round by 0.034s after finishing second to the Tokyo 2020 gold medallist in the team sprint, Jeffrey Hoogland of the Netherlands. – April 14, 2024