Azizulhasni nears national record in qualifying, draws Beckham in first round

NAGOYA: Former world keirin champion Azizulhasni Awang was third-fastest in the men's individual sprint qualifying round at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Wednesday.

The Pocket Rocketman proved he is in fine form after clocking 9.467 seconds at the Izu Velodrome, less than a tenth of a second from his national record of 9.402s set at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The pace was fast in Shizuoka as Japan's Kaiya Ota - the favourite for the individual sprint - clocked 9.400s, not far from his 9.348s Asian record (Tagaytay ACC 2026), to top the morning timesheets and break the previous Asian Games record of 9.623s previously set by China's Zhou Yu at the Hangzhou Games.

China's Li Zhiwei clocked 9.444s to place second.

Azizulhasni's teammate Shah Firdaus Sahrom was ninth on 9.850s, which is on par with expectations. The 31-year-old is still being hampered by scar tissue on his right knee following an operation late last year.

Azizulhasni will face India's David Beckham Elkatohchoongo, who qualified 14th (9.996s), in the first round while Shah will face-off in a tricky encounter against Taiwan's Kang Shih-Feng, who was eighth (9.810s) in the qualifying.

Izzah Izzati Asri and Nur Alyssa Farid will also see action in the women's keirin on Wednesday.