‘Pocket Rocketman’ Azizulhasni goes independent

 Azizulhasni Awang is ready to compete with the national team if needed but wants the National Sports Council and institute to focus their allocations on other athletes.

Track cyclist Azizulhasni Awang said he expects his return to competitive cycling would now be ‘a little different’. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: 

National track cycling champion Azizulhasni Awang has decided to continue his professional sporting career independently.

Azizulhasni, known as the “Pocket Rocketman”, said the decision was made after discussions with the National Sports Council (MSN) and youth and sports minister Hannah Yeoh, Bernama reported.

“I’ve decided to return to competitive cycling, but the journey will be a little different. I will not be with the national team,” he said at a press conference with Yeoh at the council’s headquarters in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur.

“I’ve chosen to go independent. When I sat down with MSN and the National Sports Institute, I asked them to focus their allocations on other athletes.”

The 37-year-old nonetheless said he was ready to compete with the national squad if his services were still needed, especially in next year’s Asian Games and Commonwealth Games.

Azizulhasni, a two-time Olympic medallist, was disqualified in the first heat of the men’s keirin event at the Paris Olympics last year, which was expected to be his last. The Malaysian team’s appeal against the disqualification, for overtaking the derny (motorised pacer) before it pulled off the track, was dismissed. - FMT