| Fadhil Yunus |
BRUNEI Darussalam cyclists Abdul Hadrie Morsidi, Mazran Haji Mohd Jamin and Shahnon Haji Basman all bagged the gold medal in M1, M3 and M4 classes in criterium at the Asia Pacific Masters Games at Georgetown Heritage Site in Penang recently.
Abdul Hadrie crossed the line in 00:40:55 to win gold in the 30km race (M1 class) with Mazran posting a time of 00:25:22 (M3 class) and Shahnon recording a time of 00:25:25 (M4 class) both in the 18km race.
Abdul Hadrie led for most of the race while Mazran distanced himself from the other riders in the final lap and shrugged off competition from a Malaysian rival to win the race. Shahnon pulled away in the final lap to leave behind his nearest challenger Marcus Anderson Hancock of the United Kingdom to claim victory.
Malaysia’s Affiduddin bin Yaacob trailed 48s behind the dominant Abdul Hadrie to snatch silver with his compatriot Ahmad Haidar bin Anuawar taking bronze.
Mazran and Azizulazli had a photo finish with the latter settling for silver while Keiven Kek Wooi Keat took bronze with a time of 00:25:28.
Yap Leong Chai of Malaysia grabbed bronze with a time of 00:25:35 behind winner Shahnon and Marcus.
Mazran indicated that their training for the recently-concluded 4th Brunei Darussalam National Games (SKBD) was also part of their preparations in the Asia Pacific Masters Games, which is being hosted for the first time.
“Cycling is a sport which at present is fast generating widespread interest in Brunei and it has also been declared a national hobby. Our hope and target are that there will be more cycling races which will consequently advances the development of the sport and unearth new talent,” said Mazran who won bronze in the Cross Country Olympiad race in SKBD.
Mazran is setting his sights next on taking part in the World Master Games which will be hosted by Japan in 2021 and the Asia Pacific Master Games in Korea in 2022.
Brunei cyclist Reza Faizal Mohd Nor also took part in the M3 class where he finished in 10th place with a time of 00:25:41, 19 seconds off the pace from his countryman Mazran.
A total of 22 sports are contested in the Asia Pacific Masters Games with a minimum age requirement of 30 years old which will then be split into various age categories.
The cyclists will be taking part in the road race event, which covers a distance of 100.3km, today.