NILAI: A shoulder injury sustained by Japanese rider Jukia Yoshimura did not stop him from claiming the 2019 Asian BMX Championship title yesterday.
This is his third Asian title after his victories in 2016 and 2017.
The 26-year-old rider said that he was very happy to bag the championship again in Malaysia although he has not fully recovered from the injury in January.
“I had a shoulder injury before coming to the tournament and couldn’t fix it 100 per cent. But I am very happy that I could perform pretty well today and win the title again.
“After the crash in January, I took three months to recover and prepare for the event,” he told reporters at the BMX track in Nilai.
In a hot and humid yesterday afternoon, Yoshimura raced true to form and clinched the gold in 30.293 seconds, while Indonesian Gusti Bagus Saputra lived up to expectations by claiming silver in 30.895s.
The 2018 champion, Rio Akbar who is also from Indonesia, settled for the bronze in 31.614s while national BMX rider Ahmad Syazrin Awang Ilah failed to advance to the final round after finishing fifth in 32.298s in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Rio who was the 2018 Asian champion said he was satisfied with the results today although he failed to defend the title.
“Last year, I was the Asian champion and this year I am in third place. But I am grateful for the success today. What is important is that I could enter the final and pick up qualifying points for the Olympics in Tokyo,” he said.
In the women’s elite category, Kanami Tanno who is also from Japan took the title in 33.180s, ahead of two Chinese riders Yan Lu who took the silver with 33.287s and Na Peng the bronze with 34.337s.
A total of 353 riders including 145 foreign participants from Japan, China, Thailand, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, took part in various events in the two-day event held at the Nilai BMX track. – Bernama
