MALAYSIA'S up-and-coming track cyclists gave the nation much to cheer about during Hari Raya with impressive performances at the Hong Kong leg of the UCI Nations Cup on Friday.
Fadhil Zonis clinched his first medal at the Nations Cup level, formerly known as the UCI World Cup series, by winning the men's 1-kilometre time trial silver in one minute and 1.772 seconds at the Hong Kong Velodrome.
German Felix Gross took the gold in 1:00.774s while Spaniard Juan Peralta (1:02.173s) was third.
Ridwan Sahrom, competing in his first major international
competition as a senior rider, finished just off the podium in fourth in 1:02.898s.
The 20-year-old is the younger brother of national elite rider Shah Firdaus.
Fadhil, who holds the current Asian record of 1:00.305s, had topped the morning qualifiers (1:01.117s).
The 23-year-old was pleased with his performance, considering the circumstances brought by the Covid-19 pandemic.
"This is my first international race for more than a year.
"The last time I had raced abroad was the Berlin World Championships (in March) last year," said Fadhil.
"I gave it my best and managed to get a silver in the 1km time trial. (My) Raya sacrifices abroad have yielded a positive result... this is for you, Malaysia.
Fadhil competed in the
keirin yesterday ahead of today's sprint race.
Though his best performances in recent years have come in the 1km time trial, Fadhil has often stressed that he is determined to develop across all three sprint disciplines, including the keirin and individual sprint.
Fadhil has been training with the national back-up and junior cyclists in Nilai for the past year as he is unable to rejoin the national elite team in Melbourne due to travel restrictions.
He had returned to Kuala Lumpur after the Berlin world meet last year.
National elite cyclists Azizulhasni Awang and Shah are not competing in Hong Kong as they are trying to limit their travelling ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.
They, however, have been competing in domestic meets in Australia to keep fit.