Azizulhasni Awang failed to defend his world keirin title at the 2018 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in the Netherlands after being eliminated in the repechage round on Thursday.
After finishing third in his first-round heat, the 30-year-old Malaysian needed to win the repechage to reach the second round, but he lost out to Ukraine's Andrii Vynokurov.
National compatriot Shah Firdaus Sahrom also failed to make it past the repechage round.
Following the disappointment, Azizulhasni took to Instagram to share his thoughts.
"Not exactly how I dreamt my UCI Track Cycling World Championship 2018 would end," he wrote.
"To finish third in the first round and fail to make a comeback in the repechage was not something in our plan. I have fought till the end and given more than what I could.
"Not to give any excuses, but the extreme weather and the viral infection that I’ve got since arriving here in Apeldoorn had affected my performance.
"I can feel that my riding was far behind compared to my performance at the recent Asia Championship in Nilai, Malaysia.
"On top of that, I was involved in a crash during the warm-up session, where my tyre was slipped at the banking when I was about to do my effort.
"Whatever it is, I’ll always get up after I fall, and whether I run, walk or have to crawl, I’ll set my new goals and achieve them all."
Seng Foo Lee
Fri Mar 02 2018
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