KUALA LUMPUR — National track cyclist, Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom (picture) is cleared to compete in the individual sprint event at the Asian Track Cycling Championships (ATC) 2025 to be held at the National Velodrome, Nilai from Feb 21-27.
The development was confirmed by national track cycling head coach Harnizam Basri after the 29-year-old athlete met with the National Sports Institute today to assess the knee injury he suffered during a recent training session.
Meanwhile, Harnizam admitted that the news was a relief for him since Muhammad Shah or better known as Shah Firdaus only needs to qualify for the quarter-finals to remain in the world’s top 10 in the sprint event.
“To ensure that his injury does not worsen, we only put Shah Firdaus in at least until the quarter-finals in the sprint event. So we have two days of rest for him before the keirin event.
“If Shah reaches the quarter-finals, he will get at least 200 points and will probably remain in the top 10 in the world. Hopefully he will be able to be in the top eight in the individual sprint event at the championship,” he said when contacted by Bernama today.
Previously, the media reported that the national Olympian has not yet made a decision to participate in the sprint event at the 2025 ATC.
Shah Firdaus reportedly said that the sprint event requires cycling from low to high levels compared to the keirin which depends a lot on the tactics and strategy of the race.
Meanwhile, Shah Firdaus admitted that although his injury has not yet fully recovered, he is still positive about chasing a slot in the final for the keirin event at the prestigious race.
“Now I really want to maintain my top 10 world ranking, but for the keirin event which is important one step at a time, I want to get to the final first, I will give what I can give.
“Even if we are in good condition, it doesn’t guarantee anything. In a race, anything can happen. This is based on experience. I am positive. No matter what happens, I know what I have to do and give my best performance,” he told reporters recently.
Commenting on his injury, Shah Firdaus said the MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) results last week confirmed that he had suffered a medial quadriceps tendon injury which forced him to go through a special recovery process.
He said the injury occurred when he was preparing for the ATC recently.
“This two years I want to build myself up, but this is the risk, it can cause injury before the ATC. I was stressed and sat there not knowing what to do. I need to recover. This injury takes a long time to heal because the knee is used for pedaling,” he said. — BERNAMA