KUALA LUMPUR: The performance of young Malaysian riders in the President's Cup series, which concluded in Nilai, Negri Sembilan, yesterday, bodes well for the future of the sport here.
Ridwan Sahrom, 23, beat his elder brother Shah Firdaus, 29, for the first time to win the mens keirin gold at the National Velodrome yesterday.
Ridwan had suffered a back injury in 2022, which hindered his development for some time. The Muar-born had earlier on Friday taken silver in the individual sprint behind Azizulhasni Awang.
To be fair to Shah, he is currently undergoing a heavy training load in preparation for the Paris Olympics and did not taper for the President's Cup series.
The women's keirin yesterday again saw rising star Izzah Izzati Asri, 21, claiming gold though this time she was pushed hard by Amber Yong, who was promoted from the junior ranks last year.
Amber, 19, finished second while Aliana Azizan was third. Amber had won three gold medals in the junior category at last year's Hong Kong International Track Cup series.
Paris Olympics-bound Izzah had earlier on Friday won the individual sprint and keirin.
National track cycling programme technical director John Beasley said their performances are a good sign for Malaysian track cycling.
"Ridwan is stepping up nicely and he is always keen to learn how he can get better," said Beasley yesterday.
"We took him with us during our recent training camp in Melbourne and he was often leading out the boys' there. He did a lot of hard work for Azizulhasni and Shah.
"Today (yesterday), he took on his brother and won. I am proud of him. I want to see more races where the riders go out and have a go at winning rather than just be content to finish second or third.
"The new ones (riders) have got to go and step over the old ones. This is a good sign and I am really happy for the kid, he has worked hard."
Beasley added that he was also impressed by Amber and her elder sister Dolly, 21, who finished fifth in the keirin yesterday.
"I rate them pretty highly, it shows how far they have come. They both raced very well," said Beasley.
"Amber has come a long way and improved out of sight over the last 12 months. She has always been a quality rider, but she was still in school until February last year, so we have only had her (in senior team) for about a year.
"There is quite some talent in that group, we just have to keep nurturing and developing them."
Izzah burst onto the scene two years ago and has already won three Asian Championships gold medals. She is being groomed to become a medal contender at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.