Azizulhasn cruises into Asian Games sprint semi-finals

NAGOYA: Track cycling great Azizulhasni Awang has advanced to the semi-finals of the men's individual sprint event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Azizulhasni, who was third-fastest in qualifying yesterday, notched a straightforward 2-0 win over Japan's Kanata Takahashi in the quarter-finals at the Izu Velodrome in Shizuoka today.

Fellow contenders Kaiya Ota (Japan) and Li Zhiwei have also booked their spot in the final four with straightforward wins over Kirill Kurdidi (Kazakhstan) and Kang Shih Feng (Taiwan), respectively.

China's Xie Han and Thailand's Jai Angsuthasawit are, however, tied 1-1 and will have to compete in a deciding race before the semi-final lineup can be completed.

The semi-finals and final will be held later today.

Meanwhile, the women's individual sprint qualifying round saw Nur Alyssa Farid (10.708s) and Izzah Izzati Asri (10.764s) placing fourth and sixth respectively.

Asian record holder Yuan Liying (China) topped the timesheets on 10.155s while Japan's Mina Sato (10.209s) and China's Jiang Yulu (10.352s) were second and third fastest.

Izzah will face South Korea's Kim Haeun while Alyssa will race Taiwan's Chen Ching Yun in the first round later today.

Malaysia has already won two medals in women's track cycling so far through the women's team sprint event (silver) and the keirin (Izzah).