WELL DONE AZIZULHASNI!!!

PETALING JAYA: A shot at making history as the first ever Malaysian gold medal winner at the World University Games in Shenzhen in August beckons track cyclist Azizulhasni Awang when he makes his much anticipated comeback after the horrific injury he suffered four months ago.

The two-time World Champion-ships medallist spearheads a strong cast of 125 athletes who will compete in 13 sports (athletics, swimming, diving, badminton, archery, cycling, chess, football, gymnastics, golf, shooting, fencing and taekwondo).

It will be the first time he will be racing on the track again since the unfortunate crash in the final leg of the World Cup series in Manchester where his calf was skewered by a 20cm splinter.

Azizul is pursuing undergraduate studies at the University of Deakin in Melbourne where he is based with the elite track squad and hence is eligible to represent the country at the Games.

High hopes: Azizulhasni Awang is aiming to become the first Malaysian athlete to win at the World University Games in Shenzen in August.

Azizul said he accepted the invitation after getting clearance from the National Sports Institute in Bukit Jalil where he has been going daily for rehabilitation.

“I have stayed here longer than I was supposed to because they wanted to make sure I have really recovered from the injury and will not be hampered in any way when I resume my Olympic campaign later this year.

“I have not stepped into the track since the incident and I can’t wait to resume racing again. That’s all I am thinking of and I just hope I can bring out my best effort when the time comes,” said the two-time National Sportsman of the Year recipient.

The 23-year-old Azizul is scheduled to fly back to Melbourne later this week to resume training and wants to use the outing in Shenzhen to gauge his performance level before the track cycling season begins in earnest from October.

The first of four World Cup meets kicks off in Kazakhstan from October and together with the Asian Championships in Kuala Lumpur and World Championships in Melbourne offers ranking points for Olympic qualification for the London Games.

Azizul passed the first half of the qualification stage with flying colours as he held on to the No. 1 spot in the keirin rankings despite missing out on the world meet in Holland in March because of his injury.

”I do not feel any pain when I cycle and the World University Games will be a good place to check out how much effort I need to put into training before my main mission at the Olympic Games next year.”

Besides Azizul, other top Malaysian athletes who have the potential to stand on the podium are New Delhi Commonwealth Games platform champion diver Pandelela Rinong and shooter Nur Ayuni Farhana.

Nur Ayuni partnered Nur Suryani Mohd Taibi to take gold in the women’s 10m air rifle pairs at the Commonwealth Games.

Malaysia have never won a gold medal at the World University Games and their best showing is a silver medal from Che Chew Chan in taekwondo in the 2007 edition in Bangkok.

source : THESTAR

CONGRATULATION TO NICOL AND AZIZULHASNI

Cyclist Azizulhasni Awang and squash queen Nicol David  were declared the winners of the country’s highest sporting honour for 2010!!

Azizulhasni defeated others nominees including Datuk Lee Chong Wei, Sazali Samad and Alex Liew while Nocol defeated Pandalela Rinong, Elaine Khoon and  Nur Suryani Taibi.

2010 PLUS-Sportswriters Association of Malaysia (SAM) Award

KUALA LUMPUR: Five-time world squash champion Nicol David, world number one shuttler Lee Chong Wei and cycling ace Azizulhasni Awang are the frontrunners for the 2010 PLUS-Sportswriters Association of Malaysia (SAM) award.
The trio are among the five nominees for the prestigious award along with diver Pandalela Rinong and shooter Nur Suryani Taibi. The winner, who will take home RM10,000 and a trophy, will be announced at the Saujana Golf and Country Club on March 6.
Nicol ruled supreme in world squash and stayed unbeaten last year. The Penangite won nine Women’s International Squash Players Association (Wispa) tournament titles and clinched a record equalling fifth world crown. She was also crowned WISPA Player of the Year for the sixth consecutive time.
The other four nominees are also in with a shout for the award, having created records of sorts in Malaysian sports.
Pandelela created history when she won Malaysia’s first-ever diving gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. She defeated several top divers to win the women’s 10m platform gold.
As for Nur Suryani, she delivered a gold and a bronze in the Commonwealth Games. She scored 496.9 points to finish third in the women’s 10m air rifle individual event. She then partnered
Nur Ayuni Halim to win the 10m rifle pairs gold. It was only the second time in the history of the Games that Malaysia struck gold in the shooting event. To cap off a wonderful year, Nur Suryani also won a bronze in the 10m air rifle event to become the first-ever Malaysian female shooter to win a shooting medal in the Asian Games.
Azizulhasni, who won the 2009 100PLUS-SAM award, ended Malaysia’s 40-year gold drought in the Asian Games when he emerged champion in the keirin event. The Terengganu rider was also crowned the overall keirin winner in the World Cup.
Chong Wei, on the other hand, continued his dominance in world badminton, winning 10 out of the 12 Open tournaments he competed in 2010.
Besides retaining the Commonwealth Games team and individual gold medals, Chong Wei also triumphed in eight international tournaments, including six Super Series titles in Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, Switzerland, Indonesia and Japan. He also bagged the GP Gold titles in Malaysia and Macau and was an individual silver medallist in the Asian Games.
Meanwhile, a new award - the Most Promising Athlete – is also up for grabs with the winner taking home RM3,000 and a trophy.

Souce : Thestar

PRAY FOR AZIZUL HASNI

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"Azizul recovering in a hospital in Manchester"

AZIZUL Hasni Awang's split-second decision during the horrific crash in the keirin final of the Manchester UCI World Cup on Sunday, is something that has earned him more than fame. His show of grit in jumping back on his bike with a wood splinter piercing his left calf, saved his entire season's hard work confirming his historic third UCI World Cup overall keirin title and keeping him in the lead in the Olympic qualifying rankings.

Had he not made that split second decision. Azizul's season would have ended in tatters with the injury ruling him out of the World Championships in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands on March 23-28 and he would have lost the lead in all the ranking that mattered.

"I didn't think much. After the crash, all I thought was about the UCI World Cup jersey. I needed to finish at least fourth to guarantee it, so I just got back on my bike and rode across the finish line," said Azizul, when contacted in Manchester yesterday.
"I felt pain when I crashed, as it was a hard tumble. But I didn't realise the splinter had pierced through until after I had crossed the finish line."

Doctors at the Royal Infirmary in Manchester, where Azizul had the nine-inch long splinter surgically removed from his calf yesterday morning, have told Azizul to stay off the bike for at least two weeks or until the wounds have fully recovered.

That effectively ruled him out of the World Championships, something the 23-year old from Dungun had programmed his whole season towards.

"I will have to take at least two weeks off, or more if required, to allow for the wound to fully heal. Pushing it would make it worse, so I think it would be better to allow proper recovery," said Azizul.

"Of course I'm disappointed that my season ended like this but under the circumstances, I will just have to accept fate.

"The top priority is next year's Olympics and I still have time to fully recover and prepare for the next World Cup season and continue the qualifying programme then."

Azizul was last night discharged from the hospital and boarded the flight together with his teammates back to their training base in Melbourne.

Source : Malaysian Sports

TELE CONVERSATION WITH THE ROCKET POCKET MAN

ROCKET POCKETMAN ON TV3 NEWS

Malaysian track cycling Azizulhasni Awang who was injured in a high-speed collision during the keirin final at the UCI TRACK CYCLING WORLD CUP IN MANCHESTER!!

2011 Track Cycling World Cup - Mens Keirin Final - Awang's Splinter.flv

AZIZUL HASNI BRING JOY FOR MALAYSIA BUT HE WAS INJURED

Malaysia's Azizulhasni Awang collapses with a splinter through his lower leg after a crash in the Men's Keirin Final during the Track Cycling World Cup at the National Cycling Centre, Manchester, England

A splinter is seen through the leg of Malaysia's Azizulhasni Awang after a crash in the Men's Keirin Final during the Track Cycling World Cup at the National Cycling Centre, Manchester, England, Saturday

Azizulhasni Awang won a bronze medal at cycling's Track World Cup BUT WITH SOME INJURY

The Malaysian rider managed to get back on his bike after a high-speed crash in the Keirin final and stagger across the line, but it was only afterward that the full extent of his injury became clear.

Pictures showed a large splinter of wood from the track had gone right through his left calf.

Awang was given third, but missed his moment on the podium because he was on his way to hospital.

His bronze was enough for him to capture the series title ahead of Britain's Chris Hoy, who won Saturday's race.

Hoy was one of only two riders who completed the race without falling. He said he did not realize what had happened behind him until he crossed the line.

"I was punching the air and showboating as I always do and when I came by the scoreboard I saw the officials pointing," Hoy was quoted as saying by the Press Association. "I saw one guy, then two and then three, but with the noise of the crowd I couldn't hear.

"It was pretty nasty."
The crash involved four riders: Awang, Poland's Kamil Kuczynski, Edward Dawkins of New Zealand and Juan Peralta Gascon of Spain.

Awang got back on his bike, while Dawkins pushed his over the line. Peralta ran to the finish line without his bike and was disqualified.

"Awang is always in there with the rough and tumble so it's almost inevitable it's going to happen to him at some point," Hoy said.

SOURCE : NEWSER