Azizulhasni misses keirin semi-finals at Shanghai World Championships
John Beasley blamed a tactical mistake for the Malaysian rider’s exit and set a top-eight target for his individual sprint event.
Malaysia’s Azizulhasni Awang was eliminated from the keirin at the Shanghai World Championships after placing sixth in quarter-final Heat 3 at the Shanghai Velodrome. Outgoing national team technical director John Beasley attributed the result to a tactical mistake.
Beasley said Azizulhasni had sufficient speed and power to advance but was disappointed by the missed opportunity. The rider had been seeking another World Championships medal after a season that included two World Cup event victories, the overall World Cup title and gold medals at both the Commonwealth and Asian Games.
Azizulhasni is due to race in the men’s individual sprint next. Beasley said his target was a top-eight placing to help the Malaysian’s Olympic qualification campaign, while noting that the rider had previously reached the podium several times.
Malaysia’s Nur Alyssa Farid and Izzah Izzati Asri were also eliminated in the opening round of the women’s individual sprint. Nur Alyssa was beaten by Britain’s Rhianna Parris-Smith after qualifying 23rd with 10.788 seconds. That improved her personal best of 10.882s from the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Izzah qualified 17th with 10.667s before losing to Australia’s Molly McGill. Her qualifying performance was slower than her personal best and Malaysian record of 10.578s, recorded at the 2025 UCI Track Cycling Nations Cup in Konya, Turkiye. Both Malaysian women will next contest the keirin.
