Azizulhasni up to No. 6 in latest world rankings

KUALA LUMPUR: Former world keirin champion Azizulhasni Awang has moved up nine spots to No. 6 in the latest UCI men's elite sprint world rankings released yesterday.

He now has 3,970 points after collecting 500 points each from both his keirin and individual sprint performances - he placed ninth in both events - at the Shanghai World Championships which concluded on Sunday.

The world meet carries significant weightage in the world rankings.

Azizulhasni is keen to build on his performances this season.

"On Aug 28, I had written a long post and explained my target, predictions and possibility of my world ranking rising to at least the top eight in the world," he said on social media today.

"To qualify for the Olympics, you cannot just fill your name in a form and send it to the organisers. You have to qualify on merit via the UCI rankings.

"Following the recent world championships, my ranking has gone up to No. 6 in the world. This is just the start."

He disclosed that to qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, riders must rank within the top 13 in the world.

Despite his advancing years, the 38-year-old has had a stellar season which saw him winning two keirin gold and two individual sprint bronze medals in the UCI World Cup series - he was crowned the overall keirin champion.

He also won keirin gold at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games as well as keirin gold and individual sprint bronze at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games this year.

Shah Firdaus Sahrom, who is on the comeback trail after undergoing knee surgery late last year, is the second-highest ranked Malaysian rider at No. 63 (1,359 points) with his brother Ridwan being the next highest ranked Malaysian at No. 77 (1,191 points).

In the women's elite sprint rankings, Izzah Izzati Asri is the highest-ranked Malaysian at No. 12 (3,466 points) after moving up three spots, followed by youngsters Nur Alyssa Farid (No. 21, 2,922 points) and Yong Ann Tung (No. 112, 727 points).

The next major assignment for the national squad will be the Asian Championships which will be held at the National Velodrome in Nilai on Jan 31-Feb 6.