Tokyo Olympics: Azizulhasni, Shah Firdaus to face Olympic and world champions in elimination round

Azizulhasni Awang and Shah Firdaus Sahrom are set to face a tall order in the men's sprint elimination stage at the 2020 Olympic Games.

The two Malaysian cyclists clocked 9.626s and 9.700s respectively in 3.5 laps at the Izu Velodrome to qualify from the preliminary round at 17th and 23rd.

The top 24 go through to the 1/32 finals, set to be held later today at 3:35pm (Malaysia time), where six-time Olympic gold medalist Jason Kenny and six-time world champion Harrie Lavreysen will be waiting for them respectively.

Kenny clocked a time of 9.510s in the qualifying round, which was faster than his Olympic record (9.551s) set at Rio 2016 but it was also surpassed by seven other riders on the same day, with Dutch rider Jeffrey Hoogland claiming the record outright with 9.215s.

Another track cycling record was broken at Tokyo 2020 as Japan's Yuta Wakimoto (9.518s) overtook Azizulhasni's Asian record (9.548s).

(Photo: asiana.my)

Mohd Azizulhasni Awang, jaguh berbasikal negara akan bertemu Kenny Jason dari Great Britain, juara bertahan sukan Olimpik dunia dalam acara berbasikal trek (L) pecut - 1/32 - Heat 8 pada petang ini.#ganbattemalaysia #sokongmalaysia pic.twitter.com/X6WcTzFp7x

— ASTRO ARENA (@ASTROARENA) August 4, 2021