KUALA LUMPUR: Azizulhasni Awang fell short of his own expectations in the keirin at the Shanghai World Championships but that has not stopped him from declaring this year to be the "best season of his career".
The former world keirin champion did not advance past the quarter-finals in his favoured event at the world meet which ended yesterday.
The 38-year-old also reached the second round in the men's individual sprint at the Shanghai Velodrome.
Azizulhasni admitted that not reaching the keirin final was a bitter pill to swallow.
"I was a bit disappointed not to reach the keirin final, which was my personal goal," said Azizulhasni on social media today.
"I drew fifth (behind derny) for the quarter-finals so I started from the back.
"The strategy was to sprint heading into the last lap. Unfortunately I was boxed-in twice during the sprint.
"If that did not happen, I would have been able to qualify for the next round.
"Unfortunately, this is the reality of keirin racing, anything can happen. I take full responsibility for my performance.
"For the individual sprint my personal goal was to be in the top-10 and I achieved that by qualifying eighth (9.564s) from 33 riders who qualified for the world championships."
Azizulhasni has otherwise had a stellar season, winning two keirin gold and two individual sprint bronzes in the UCI World Cup series and was crowned the overall keirin champion.
He also clinched keirin gold at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games (August), a title which has long eluded him, as well as keirin gold and individual sprint bronze at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games earlier this month.
Competing in three major championships within 90 days, however, took its toll on national team riders, including Azizulhasni.
"Of course, my preparations and performance were not their best, especially when compared to my rivals from other (non-Commonwealth or Asian) countries," he said.
"I was still able to achieve my main goal here, which was to bring home as many qualifying points for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics as possible.
"For the first time in my career, there have been three major competitions held within such a short time frame.
"Nevertheless, this has been the best season of my career."
The men's (Fadhil Zonis, Ridwan Sahrom, Shah Firdaus Sahrom) and women's (Izzah Izzati Asri, Nur Alyssa Farid, Aliana Azizan) team sprint squads were not quite at their best in Shanghai, finishing 16th and 11th respectively.
Izzah and Alyssa did not make it past the first round in both the women's individual sprint and keirin events.
The next major assignment for the squad will be the Asian Championships which will be held at the National Velodrome in Nilai on Jan 31-Feb 6.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd