Just look at the list from the International Cycling Union (UCI). This is the list of qualifiers for this year's Under-23 World Championships in Varese, Italy at the end of this month, showing those countries who had made it via the UCI Asia Tour.Not too long ago did I hear silly voices saying it is too difficult for our boys to do it. Even now, if you read a blaring example in today's Berita Harian, you can see that even within us, there are people with really weak, colonialistic minds, who think we are a country meant to breed painfully weak people. No, we don't believe that. We must strive, and keep believing we can do it. Step by step.
You don't tell our young and eager riders, they're too young and need to learn a lot more before they step up. That was how it worked when the mediocre athletes we have now and in the past, were coming up. Now, we tell them there's nothing to stop you from going for it. Your time is always NOW. Nobody can tell you you can't do it, or you have to wait a bit longer before you can do it. Life is about trying every single minute of every single day. If you don't, others will.
And just a note to prove the point. Those running the road programme in the MNCF and NSC never believed we could have road riders qualifying for the World Championships, even in the Under-23 category. I can vouch for that for I've been on the ground and gathered the consensus. Just a handful believe so and it was the riders from the ill-funded Le Tua team, who scrapped the bare bottom of any barrel they could find to ensure their riders could continue riding. Quietly, apart from the big bang they served up in the Jelajah Malaysia in January and Le Tour de Langkawi this year, they delivered.
And there, right on the top, you have it. Malaysia, ranked number two in Asia, all courtesy of one little team with big dreams. The Le Tua Cycling Team. They turned out to be the team that single-handedly gathered 85% of the points required to place Malaysia second among under-23 nations in the Asia Tour rankings.
And this, I can tell you my friends, is just the beginning.
7 comments:
siapakah punca kemerosotan sukan berbasikal negara?
Congratulations Le Tua and also Organisers of Races like Chief Minister Melaka Cup, Melaka Governor's Cup and Jelajah Negeri Sembilan. With able young riders and sanctioned competitions in the country, it wouldnt be too expensive for our young riders and weakly funded teams to chalk up points for the beloved country Malayisa.
The whole idea of the road cycling programme is to qualify Malaysia for the Olympics sometime in the near future. In order to achieve that, they have to be their continent winners and also World Championship qualifiers. With Le Tua, the MCF Continental Team and the National Malaysian team, we have elite riders and Under 23 riders which are capable of achieving this objective.
When Malaysia qualifies for the World Championship, they should be going to the World Championship. Funding must be made available and there is no two ways about it. If the road development committee do not understand this, then Malaysia will not be able to beat the World at cycling in the near, midterm or far future.
To reach the destination, the first step begins now even though it has been charted two years ago (thanks to you) by Ng Yong Lee in Spain, and then the next year Mohd Fauzan, Ng Yong Lee and Md Rauf Nur Misbah in Stuttgart,Germany. This year we should be able to send Mohd Fauzan, Anuar Manan, Loh Sea Keong, Redhuan and Amir Mustapha Rusli or Akmal Amrun in Varese, Italy.
The progress has been very positive, from one rider in 2006, we had three riders that qualified in 2007 and now in 2008 we have 5 riders qualified to ride.
If the National Sports Council cannot find the funding then the Malaysian National Cycling Federation must seek the help of Private Sponsors to make it happen.
Are you saying you did not agree with Jo's contention that Edrus is not ready yet?
Rizal,
I believe Jo is a rider. He cannot decide whether his teammate is ready or not. He's tried it once and Azizul Hasni proved beyond all reasonable doubt, for three years in a row, that Josiah Ng's assumptions could be wrong. He said they were not ready and it turned out, they were more ready than him.
For your info: past three years, the Asian keirin champion has been Malaysian - Rizal Tisin in 06, and Azizul the following two years.
Right now, it is about who's on top of his game. Of course, Josiah should try playing his politics to try and stop Edrus right from the root, as in stopping him from riding in the World Cup legs and so on, as was the case with Azizul this year. He is a rider and he should act like one, not trying to be the boss and decide things for the rest of the team.
We are not saying it is the end of his career. He should prove us wrong. We'd like him to prove us wrong. But he should prove it on the track, not with his mouth.
Fairoz,
Punca: Ng Joo Ngan, MSN, PKBM.
Datuk,
You should be telling this to your council and most importantly, the badly failing road committee and its chairman Datuk Yusop Hermain Shah, who seems more pissed off about his vice presidency not being confirmed, than the road team not having a coach for three-quarters of the year.
And they are so smart to even cancel the road team's trip to Varese, without even taking into account all the hard work that others had put into qualifying. This is simply because they have been doing nothing!!
Kalau bolehlah diadakan siri Jelajah bawah 18 tahun bagi melahirkan bakat bakat baru.Kebanyakan bakat bakat muda kurang pendedahan diperingkat negeri dan juga kebangsaan.Adakan kejohanan disetiap negeri pada setiap 2 bulan sekali pasti akan memeriahkan lagi sukan lumba basikal di Malaysia. Sekadar cadangan.
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