We're cheering on Azizul today. I'm writing this just after watching him make it through to the quarterfinals of the 200m sprint. If he can get through to the semis, we're in the hunt for medals in this sport. Never did we expect Malaysians could compete against the likes of Australia, Germany, Britain, Poland, Japan, China, Italy, France, Holland, the US, Belgium, Russia, Ukraine, New Zealand, Spain, Canada, South Korea, Greece ..etc.. All of whom have serious cycling programmes. Not only are our boys competing against them, they're beating most of them. Who's bright idea was it to influence our sports minister to blurt out nonsense such as "we could shift focus to non-physical sports such as archery, shooting and bowling"??
Now, this picture above is that of the back-up sprints squad under former national rider Fairoz Izni Abdul Ghani.Fairoz has taken the initiative to organise a keirin series featuring these boys at the KL Velodrome and it is open to anybody who feels they wanna give it a go. It is the most exciting discipline in track cycling, so go have a look.
Check out Fairoz's blog here
We're definitely not just stopping at giving Azizul, Rizal Tisin and Edrus Yunus to the world.. A whole line of keirin riders are on the way......
2 comments:
Arnaz, realistically speaking, the Sports Minister was right in wanting to shift our focus to non-physical disciplines.
That is where our prospects are greater. But at the same time, we cannot be dismissive of the contributions sports like football, swimming, hockey, cycling and athletics can impact the society.
In the case of cycling, it has always appealed to a small segment of society and they excel in it despite the obstacles.
From the days of shaharudin jaffar, n.a rosli, ng joo pong in the 60s, daud ibrahim, rosman alwi, m. kumaresan, harris fadzilah, paidi ghani, nor effandy rosli, cycling continues to produce cylists of true calibre.
As such we should continue supporting cycling. The emphasis on sports which require little physical contact should also be done immediately.
In order to win a medal at the Olympics, we must start winning those events at Asian Games level first. Diving, taekwondo, archery, gymnastics, let's be honest, offer a greater chance of Malaysia ending up in the medal tally than cycling!
perhaps we should study providing financial backing for any athlete of certain level or world ranking, regardless of sports. For example, Nicol in squash, Shalin in bowling, Chu Sian in archery, Azizul in cycling. It's difficult to do so in team sports but we can for individual sports.
Rizal, I don't fully agree. But having said that, I've always been one to push for independence from Government funding, but as you can see NO sport in this country is free of that, and it seems like it is by design.
So, we can't blame the Government for holding the sports by their balls via the MSN or Sports Ministry.
But come on, you can't possibly believe that all our potential in team sports has gone down the drain.. Look at our team sprint finishing seventh at the Olympics, clocking under 45 seconds twice. Five years ago, the national record was a worrying 48 seconds plus!!
It is not about selecting the sports in which to focus, neither is it about pumping money into areas where the Government feels we have potential. Because records do show so clearly that whenever the focus and money is directed in one way, that's usually when they start screwing up. Because every idiot who thinks he has the slightest plan will want a piece of the pie and that's when the politics start to rule. I'm not gonna name you examples because they are aplenty and you sure know what they are.
Thus, in case you haven't noticed, it is only about getting things done right if we want to see our sports move ahead. Simple as that. Which seriously is a problem here in Malaysia because getting things done 'right' usually involves politics and huge amounts of taxpayers' money.
Just ask the numerous clubs in various sports who've fallen victims. There's no room for them in a system dominated by red tape, bureaucracy, hypocracy and a very, very strong (as Datuk Fauzi Omar most famously said) Dengki Factor.
2) And let me correct you further, in that cycling does not appeal to just a 'small segment of society' as you have put it.
If you get on the ground and look at how many big group rides and cycling fans we have in this country, you will be surprised.
I can tell you it is definitely more popular among the masses than sports like archery, shooting, diving, gymnastics.
By masses, I don't mean just the people you see in KL. And I am passionate about it because this is a sport I strongly believe we can excel in and become world powers at. It is a big sport at world level. Far bigger and more widely accepted globally than badminton.
And if you say it is a drug-tainted sport, yes. But check the Olympic drug busts. The one positive case in cycling was outnumbered by track and field, weightlifting and other sports.
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