KUALA LUMPUR – Terengganu Hanelang team cyclist, Amer Akbar Anuar and ECO MTB team cyclist Eddyna Nasuhar Zainal Abidin have emerged as champions in the men’s and women’s elite categories of the 2023 National BMX Championship in National BMX Arena, Negri Sembilan today.
Victory was even sweeter for Amer Akhbar as he ended in fifth place last year after being involved in an accident with teammate Sany Syahmi Mohd Shafiee.
“Alhamdulillah, I’m lucky to have won the national championship this year.
“Last year, I crashed with Sany Syahmi at the second last corner just as we were headed to the finish line.
“My target is to be the national champion this year, get the white jersey and record the best time.
“I’m very pleased with my performance in today’s last race,” he said in a statement today, after recording a time of 29.564 seconds (s), ahead of teammate Sany Syahmi (30.239s) and Syed Irfan Danish Syed Anuar from Johor in third (31.975s).
Amer Akhbar will now focus on winning the gold at the 2022 Asian BMX Championship in Philippines scheduled from July 15 to 16.
Meanwhile, newly crowned women’s elite champion Eddyna Nasuhar managed to defend her crown against Terengganu Hanelang cyclist Siti Shahirah Hashim and Puteri Balqis Masek from Johor.
She admitted that it was difficult to win due to the tough challenge in the final compared to last year’s race.
“Before the final race, I didn’t place high hopes on winning, as I knew I was facing several good cyclists. I know their strengths, as they are my old friends.
“This year, they made a comeback, so the final was really tough and challenging because everyone is a fighter. I only did my best till the end of the race,” she shared. – Bernama, July 2, 2023
