KUALA LUMPUR: National track cyclist, Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom’s challenge in the 2022 Track Cycling World Championships at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France ended as he crashed out in the men’s sprint 1/16 finals, today.
The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist in men’s keirin event lost by a difference of +0.073 seconds (s) to Japan’s Kaiya Ota in the tournament held at the National Velodrome, the same venue for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Ota, who crossed the finishing line in 10.272s, will take on Rayan Helal after the French rider clocked 10.028s to beat another Japanese rider, Kento Yamasaki.
On Thursday, Shah Firdaus failed to advance to the men’s keirin final after he finished last in heat one of the semi-finals.
The Johorean opened his campaign on the wrong foot on Wednesday after he and his two other teammates, Muhammad Fadhil Mohd Zonis and Muhammad Ridwan Sahrom ended in 11th place among 17 nations in the men’s team sprint event qualifiers, thus failing to be among the best eight teams to advance to first round.
The five-day tournament ends tomorrow. - Bernama