Nicholas Paul got his second medal of the UCI Track World Cup in Nilai, Malaysia, on Sunday, securing the silver medal after Dutch sprint ace Harrie Lavreysen beat him in the final of the men’s match sprint.
The powerful Dutchman got the better of Paul, the Pan Am champion, in two straight rides for the gold medal a day after the two clashed in the final of the men’s keirin, where Lavreysen got the silver medal and Paul the bronze. Hometown favourite Azizulhasni Awang sealed the win and resulting gold medal after pipping Paul and Lavreysen on the line in a spectacular photo finish.
This time, however, Awang had to settle for the bronze medal after defeating Nikita Kiriltsev of Russia in the battle for third and fourth place. Not surprisingly, the trio of Lavreysen, Paul and Awang, who accounted for the top three places in the keirin, were the ones to sparkle in the flying 200-metre sprint qualifiers by posting the top three times at 9.414, 9.464, and 9.601 seconds.
Kiriltsev delivered the 20th fastest time in the qualifiers at 9.847 seconds, but still proved good enough to be among the 28 riders to advance to the match sprints, where he later disposed of Canadian Nick Wammes in the 1/16 round. However, Paul, Lavreysen and Awang took no part in that round, as they were propelled straight to the 1/8 round due to their qualifying performances.
Lavreysen, the world sprint champion, then turned back Colombian David Ortega Fontalvo on his way to the quarterfinals, while Paul took care of Frenchman Rayan Helal, with Awang doing similar honours at the expense of Ruiting Huang of China. The three moved simultaneously to the final through the different rounds of action.
Awang, who left the crowd in shambles the day before, when he drove from behind to pip Lavreysen for the gold with a lifted front wheel as he crossed the finish line, later defeated Frenchman Tom Derache for his entry into the quarters. But as he sensed a podium finish, he lifted his performance even further to enter the round of four with a straight two-set victory over Minato Nakaishi of Japan.
Paul, on the other hand, appeared to be getting better and faster with each round. And with victories in rides one and two over Dutchman Tijmen Van Loon, he moved to the semis, only to release his wrath on Awang for the right to contest the title ride.
Lavreysen joined him soon after, defeating Mattia Predomo of Italy in the first two rides, before powering his way past Kiriltsev twice.
Meanwhile, T&T Makaira Wallace did not feature in the women’s keirin. She failed to lift herself from the 1/16-round performance the day before in the sprints, finishing fifth out of five riders in heat three of the qualifiers.
Wallace, a double bronze medallist at the Junior Pan Am, has not fared well in the elite senior category. And on Sunday her struggles continued with a bottom-place finish with only the top two required to advance.
