RTG to Consider Azizulhasni’s Re-Entry After Asian Games 2026 – Stuart

KUALA LUMPUR: The opportunity for national track cycling ace Datuk Mohd Azizulhasni Awang to return to the Road To Gold (RTG) programme will be reviewed after the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games, scheduled to take place from September 19 to October 4 this year.

RTG Coordinator Datuk Stuart Ramalingam said that period is the phase set to reassess the list of athletes in the programme, including the process of accepting new athletes or dropping those who no longer meet the set criteria.

He said this matter will be among the agendas in the RTG meeting after the Games, which also serves as a post-mortem on the performance and achievements of athletes throughout this season.

“As I said, this process (of being listed in RTG) is a phased process with structure and criteria. I am more of an administrator to the rules and that process.

“If all (criteria) are achieved by Datuk Azizul himself, personally I hope he will be re-accepted into Road To Gold according to the criteria that have been set,” he said when met at the Ceremony to Introduce the 2026 Lee Chong Wei Cup Badminton Championship Trophy in Petaling Jaya, yesterday.

Stuart said the meeting will not only be a platform to assess the performance and achievements of athletes throughout this season, but will also discuss planning for next year.

“Next year is a very important year for everyone, the Olympic qualification year for most sports. So we hope that matters that may be more sensitive and need to be examined in depth, we can discuss in that meeting,” he said.

He at the same time assured that Azizulhasni, nicknamed The Pocket Rocketman, will continue to receive support through the Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) and the National Sports Council (MSN) while waiting for the decision regarding RTG.

Previously, the National Cycling Federation of Malaysia (PKBM) was reported to be submitting an official application to KBS and MSN for Azizulhasni to be considered to re-join RTG ahead of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games (LA28).

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medallist, who was previously in RTG for Paris 2024, decided to continue his career as a professional rider last year.

The 38-year-old former world champion continued to steal the spotlight when he ended a 16-year wait to become a Commonwealth Games champion after winning the men’s keirin gold at the Glasgow 2026 edition, earlier this month.

BERNAMA