National cycling technical director John Beasley praises the women’s squad’s progress and Shah Firdaus’ comeback at the Nilai World Cup
KUALA LUMPUR: National cycling technical director John Beasley has expressed satisfaction with the overall performance of the national squad at the 2026 Track Cycling World Cup held at the National Velodrome in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, last week.
Beasley said the women’s squad showed encouraging progress after setting a national record through Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri in the individual sprint and a personal best by Nur Alyssa Mohd Farid.
However, the Australian-born coach stressed that the riders are still developing and will need time to reach their full potential.
“I’m pretty proud of them (women’s team). They’re still learning and have a long way to go, but they’re on the right path.
“I think with the girls, they’re looking good to qualify the team through the process to get a team sprint at the Olympics. It would be phenomenal to get three girls at the Games. If we can do that, they not only get the team sprint; they get two keirin spots and two sprint spots,” he said when met recently.
The national women’s squad impressed with a seventh-place finish in the team sprint featuring Nurul Izzah, Nur Alyssa and Anis Amira Rosdi, while Nurul Izzah placed seventh and 10th and Nur Alyssa finished 12th and 13th in the sprint and keirin events, respectively.
In the women’s elimination race, Nur Aisyah Mohamad Zubir reached the final and finished 21st, while also placing 19th in the omnium event.
In the men’s category, Malaysia ended 13th in the team sprint featuring Adib Andhar Andan, Mohd Akmal Nazimi Jusena and Muhammad Fadhil Mohd Zonis.
National ace Datuk Mohd Azizulhasni Awang claimed gold in the keirin and bronze in the individual sprint, while Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom finished 16th in the individual sprint and 23rd in the keirin.
Beasley commended Shah Firdaus for an impressive turnaround after finishing 16th in sprint despite limited training following a major operation about five months ago due to a knee injury that affected his performance for most of last year.
“He’s (Shah Firdaus) gone 10 months with no training. To finish 16th, I’m pretty happy with where we’re at. I think the rehabilitation credit should go to our physio and conditioning coach; they’ve done a great job.
“Now the hard work starts. We haven’t done any acceleration work at all, so that’s the big block to come. There are big gains there, but he’s a quality athlete. If we can get him back to his best, there’s another world-class athlete you’ve got,” he said.
The three-day Track Cycling World Cup final round in Nilai concluded last Sunday.
After three rounds, including Perth in March and Hong Kong earlier this month, Malaysia finished joint sixth with Great Britain with one gold and one bronze each, as China took the overall title ahead of the Netherlands and Norway.
Looking ahead, Beasley said the focus remains on long-term development and the key targets this year, including the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, in September and the World Championships in Shanghai in October.
He said the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July will serve as a preparatory platform as the team builds towards peak performance later in the season.
