PUTRAJAYA: The national sprint team comprising Azizulhasni Awang, Shah Firdaus Sahrom and Fadhil Zonis will have to win at the Asian Cycling Championships (ACC) later this year in order to keep their hopes of Olympic qualification alive.
Azizulhasni, a bronze medallist at the 2016 Rio Olympics, said he believes they have what it takes to qualify for the team sprint event but stressed the importance of taking maximum points from the Asian meet.
The 2020 ACC has been brought forward to Oct 17-21 due to the Olympics and will be held in Seoul, South Korea.
"The chances are there (for us to qualify) but everyone needs to work really hard this season," said Azizulhasni at the CIMB Cycle 2019 event here on Sunday.
"If we want to qualify, we have to win the gold at the Asian meet in order to make our chances better.
"We also have to finish among the top eight in two or three legs of the World Cup Series later this year. But what is most important is that Asian meet gold.
"In terms of training and commitment, both of them (Shah and Fadhil) are very determined. They both want to go to their first Olympics and I will try my best to help them achieve that."
Malaysia is currently ranked 14th in the Olympic qualifying rankings for the discipline with 2,317.5 points.
Only the top-eight ranked nations at the end of the Olympic qualifying period (March 2020) will qualify for Tokyo.
The trio did well to win silver at the Indonesia Asian Games last year.
The last time Malaysia had competed in the team sprint at the Olympics was at the 2008 Beijing edition. The team comprising Azizulhasni, Josiah Ng and Rizal Tisin finished seventh from eight teams in the first round.
Azizulhasni, who enjoyed a strong start to the Olympic qualifying cycle by winning a bronze and a silver at the Berlin and London legs of the World Cup series at the end of last year, is more relaxed about his own chances in the keirin and individual sprint.
"I was happy with my form last season and the objective this year is to maintain my level of performance," added Azizulhasni.
"This time there is less stress on me in terms of qualifying because I did well in the first phase (of qualifying).
“I am in a comfortable position for the individual events and my plan is to peak accordingly at the Olympics.
"The focus now is on our training blocks. I aim to add another two kilogrammes of muscle mass by June."
The 31-year-old, who currently weighs 73kg, disclosed that he is only planning to race in two or three legs of the World Cup Series (six in total), which begins in November, after which he will focus on preparing for the World Championships in late February in Berlin.
On Sunday, around 3,700 riders from 26 countries to part in the CIMB Cycle event, a 250 per cent increase from the first edition.