JOSIAH Ng took the blame for the men’s team sprint’s failure to make it to the medal rounds at the Asian Games yesterday.
Azizulhasni Awang, Edrus Yunos and Josiah finished fifth in qualifying after posting a time of 1:02.077 with the top four all going under 1:02 at the 333m Incheon International Velodrome track.
The women’s team of Fatehah Mustapha and Jupha Somnet also finished fifth in 46.988 seconds as Taiwan edged them to the bronze medal race by 0.376s.
“Just finished my first event, the team sprint. We finished 5th with a time of 1:02.0,” said Josiah, 34, in a posting on Facebok.
“It was a less than stellar and I’ll have to admit that I let the team down. Sorry to my teammates Azizulhasni Awang and Edrus Yunos.
“I wish I could have given more. I’ve got one more chance to redeem my season in the keirin on Thursday.”
The keirin is where Malaysia’s hopes for a gold in cycling lies after Azizul and Josiah finished 1-2 in Guangzhou four years ago.
Malaysia had never won a medal in the team sprint though Josiah had earlier said he was looking to make the medal rounds.
Fatehah will attempt to open the cyclists’ medal account today when she competes in the women’s keirin.
Among her rivals are Hong Kong's 2012 Olympic keirin bronze medalist Lee Wai Sze, China’s World Championships sprint silver medalist Zhong Tianshi, South Korea's Asian Championships keirin runner-up Kim Wong-yeong and China’s Asian Championships sprint winner Liu Junhong.