KUALA LUMPUR: National cycling coach John Beasley is not perturbed by Azizulhasni Awang's quarter-final showing in the men's sprint at the Australian national track championships yesterday (Feb 29).
Azizul's bid to enter the medal rounds in Brisbane ended after he lost in two heats to Matthew Glaetzer of Australia.
The Pocket Rocketman had clocked the seventh fastest time (9.829s) to reach the knockout rounds before beating Australian Finn Carpenter to reach the last eight.
It was the first race for the former keirin world champion after he was forced to pull out from the individual sprint in the first leg of the Nations Cup in Adelaide last month.
Azizul had won the keirin gold the day before but had difficulty breathing due to pericarditis (heart inflammation) and had pulled out on medical advice.
Azizul, who went for heart surgery two years ago, then had to take two weeks off from training to recover to allow fluid to drain from his chest.
Beasley was satisfied with Azizul's outing and said it's all about building up slowly towards the Paris Olympics.
"We had a good training day, getting one qualifying ride and three hard races. We got out of the event that we wanted and this was a high-quality field with the best Australian cyclists vying for Olympic spots," said the Australian coach.
"I am very happy with Azizul's progress. He only started two training sessions before flying to Brisbane.
"I just want a slow build heading towards Paris, it's been well documented the health issues he is living with and he is doing his best to manage, so now is not the time to go too deep into his reserves," said Beasley.