Josiah anchors team to 12th place in team sprint race

PETALING JAYA: Seasoned campaigner Josiah Ng turned on the speed to give Malaysia a creditable 12th placing in the men’s team sprint in the opening day’s action at the World Track Championships in Melbourne.

Asian keirin champion Josiah was a surprise entry for the team sprint, with coach John Beasley putting him in as the third rider at the last minute.

And what a difference it made as Josiah blazed to the eighth fastest time amongst all the riders in the field. The Malaysian team, with Fattah Amri Zaid as the starter and Mohd Edrus Yunos as the second rider, eventually posted 45.529.

It’s the best time by a Malaysian combination in an indoor track in a major competition since the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou.

Malaysia initially placed 14th but were later promoted to 12th overall after the shocking relegations of favourites Britain and Germany.
Germany had topped the timesheets earlier but found themselves disqualified along with Britain for infringements.

A total of 17 countries took part in the men’s team sprint.
Hosts Australia, led by keirin defending world champion Shane Perkins, bagged the first gold for their country, posting 43.266 to beat last year’s winner France (43.267).

Team manager Datuk Naim Mohamad said Josiah and Edrus were asked to ride in the team sprint at the last minute to replace juniors Malex McCrone and Mohd Arfy Qhairant.

“John felt that the juniors were not up to scratch after training at the venue,” said Naim from Melbourne.
“We wanted them to try for the national record and go below 45 seconds today but it’s still a decent time for our team sprint trio, considering that Josiah has not ridden in the team sprint for some time.

“We have not focused on the team sprint for the past one year because our riders are trying their best to qualify for their individual events. So we thought maybe we should try and see where we stand at the moment.
“Josiah is in good form and put in a very fast lap to push the team up today.”

Mohd Hariff Salleh finished 17th in the men’s 15km scratch race final that was won by Britain’s Ben Swift.
Fatehah Mustapa will begin her campaign today as she bids to qualify for the knockout rounds of the women’s sprint, the event where she won a silver at the Asian championships in February.

Edrus starts the 1km time trial event as the reigning Asian champion but will be hard pressed to make an impact against the illustrious field.



THE STAR