Azizulhasni wins sprint bronze for fifth career Asian Games medal

NAGOYA: Referred to as the Pocket Rocketman, Azizulhasni Awang clinched a bronze medal in the men's individual sprint event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. The 38-year-old Malaysian demonstrated his expertise by defeating Thailand's Jai Angsuthasawit 2-0 in the third-place playoff held at the Izu Velodrome in Shizuoka. Earlier, Azizulhasni had lost 2-0 to China's Li Zhiwei in the semi-finals.

He had qualified for the final four as the third-fastest qualifier (9.467s) behind Japan's Kaiya Ota and Zhiwei. Azizulhasni's fifth career Asian Games medal brought him to this achievement. In the final, China's Ota claimed gold, while Malaysia's Shah Firdaus Sahrom did not advance past the second round repechage. The men's keirin, Azizulhasni and Sahrom's preferred event, will take place tomorrow.

In the women's individual sprint, both Izzah Izzati Asri and Nur Alyssa Farid advanced to the quarter-finals. Izzah defeated Hong Kong's Ching Yin Shan in the second round, while Alyssa downed Taiwan's Liu Shang-ying at the same stage. Alyssa finished fourth (10.708s) while Izzah was sixth (10.764s) in qualifying. Malaysia has already secured two medals in women's track cycling, including a silver in the team sprint event and a bronze in the keirin.