THE Track Cycling World Championships, which concluded in Roubaix, France, yesterday, proved to be a tough outing for Shah Firdaus Sahrom and Fadhil Zonis, highlighting the fact that they have to work harder to become world-beaters.
Neither of them was able to qualify for a final as they struggled to adapt to the Stab Velodrome's layout due to limited track time ahead of the world meet.
The duo were only able to train twice at the venue prior to the competition due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Shah, 25, failed to make it past the first-round repechage in the keirin on Thursday.
He fared better in the individual sprint on Saturday, clocking a decent 9.800s for 11th in qualifying.
He then beat Martin Cechman of the Czech Republic in the opening round before going down to Jeffrey Hoogland of the Netherlands in the second race.
Fadhil's 1:01.589s effort in the one-kilometre individual time trial qualifying round placed him 14th, well out of the top-eight cut for the final.
The 23-year-old's personal best, also the Asian record (sea level) in the discipline, is 1:00.305s.
However, national coach Harnizam Basri () was pleased to see an improvement from Shah in the sprint but admitted they were not at their best overall.
"I am quite happy with Shah's efforts in the sprint qualifying round as he was 14th in Berlin (World Championships) last year," said Harnizam yesterday.
"He controlled the race well against Cechman, whom he had raced against last year, but failed to do the same against Hoogland when he was riding on top (of banking). This allowed Hoogland to launch his sprint first.
"Overall, I am quite satisfied with their performances considering that both were not 100 per cent for this competition following a short break after the Tokyo Olympics.
"The European riders here, on the other hand, had just finished competing in their European Championships two weeks ago."
Harnizam was deputising for head coach John Beasley, who could not make the trip to France due to travel complications.
Harnizam added that he has identified weaknesses, which the duo need to work on.
"Shah has to be more confident when overtaking during the keirin.
"This is important if he is to safely place himself in a good position (within the pack) for a stronger finish," said Harnizam.
"Fadhil needs to improve his standing start and get below 19 seconds (for the first lap) if he hopes to win a medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games next year."
Fadhil and Shah are expected to return to the national elite squad's training base in Melbourne later this year or early next year when Australian borders reopen to foreigners.
Azizulhasni, who chose to skip the World Championships, is back in Melbourne as he has an Australian PR.