KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian track cyclists concluded their campaign at the Hong Kong leg of the UCI Nations Cup on a quiet note today.
The men's individual sprint qualifiers witnessed Shah Firdaus Sahrom barely making the top-28 cut for the first round after clocking 9.987s for 26th.
His younger brother Ridwan placed 30th on 10.027s and thus did not advance.
Shah was, however, shown the exit by Frenchman Sebastien Vigier in the first round.
Izzah Izzati Asri also found it hard to make an impact in the women's keirin event.
She placed fourth in her first round heat and later settled for third in her first round repechage heat.
Only the winner advanced.
Both Shah and Ridwan had also failed to make it past the first round repechage in the men's keirin yesterday.
National track cycling head coach John Beasley admitted that Shah was not at his best.
"Shah was disappointing if you went off his results," said Beasley.
"Unfortunately he got food poisoning in Malaysia the night we left for Hong Kong.
"He was very sick for two days and lost 5kg (of bodyweight). He was never going to perform at his best after that.
"Izzah raced well here, I was very happy with her performance in the keirin. You have to remember that she is just 20 and was probably the fastest 20-year-old at the Nations Cup.
"She is being groomed for 2028 (Olympics). She knows where she is at and is working hard to get where she wants to be in a few years."
Izzah made headlines after bagging two gold (500m time trial, keirin) and one silver (team sprint) at the Asian Championships in New Delhi last month.
The next round of the Nations Cup will be held in Milton, Canada on April 12-14.