Hafiz to undergo surgery to rectify injured left wrist

PETALING JAYA: Indonesia SEA Games track cycling gold medallist Mohd Hafiz Sufian celebrated the new year with the arrival of his first child Mohd Aqeel Mikael on Tuesday.

But, Hafiz, who was looking forward to competing in the Beijing leg of the Track World Cup Classic next week, will have to wait longer before returning to the track as he has to undergo surgery on his injured left wrist.

The World Cup Classic in Beijing on Jan 13-15 will be a good platform for Hafiz to gauge himself against top competitors ahead of the Asian Cham­pionships in Kuala Lumpur next month.

Out for now: Mohd Hafiz Sufian will be undergoing surgery to prevent further damage to his left wrist. He is hoping to recover in time for the Asian Championships next month.

Hafiz, who competes in the omnium event, has to go under the knife to prevent aggravating his wrist injury.

“I had the injury while training in Perlis before the SEA Games and a check recently showed it was getting worse.

“The doctor advised me to go for surgery or risk further damaging my wrist,” he said.

Hafiz created history when he won the omnium in Jakarta. It was the first time the event was contested in the Games.

Omnium is an Olympic discipline which comprises six events – 200m flying start time trial, 15km scratch race, 4km individual pursuit, 30km points race, elimination race and a 1km time trial.

It was introduced to replace the individual pursuit, points race and madison events at the Olympics starting this year. Hafiz, however, is hoping to recover in time to compete in the Asian Cham­pionships from Feb 8-18 at the Cheras Velodrome.

“I was looking forward to competing in Beijing as chances to compete at such high level are not easy to come by,” said Hafiz, who was formerly based in Melbourne.

“But I have to be patient when it comes to injury. A full recovery will do me a world of good in the long run.”

Melbourne-based riders Azizulhasni Awang, Josiah Ng and Fatehah Mustapa will not compete in Beijing as they will be concentrating on training for next month’s Asian meet and the final leg of the World Cup in London (Feb 17-19).

The Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) have instead opted to send youngsters Mohd Arfy Qhairant Amran and Ju Pha Som Net to Beijing. - theStarOnline