Trinidad and Tobago trio Nicholas Paul, Njisane Phillip and Makaira Wallace will all be hoping to secure medals when the second day of the third and final leg of the UCI Track World Cup pedals off on Saturday.
The three days of competition are set for the 2,000-capacity National Velodrome in Nilai, Malaysia.
In the keirin, Paul will compete in the first heat alongside China’s Han Xie, the Czech Republic’s David Peterka, Spain’s Esteban Sanchez Garmendia, Indonesia’s Dika Alif Dhentaka, Kazakhstan’s Daniyar Shayakhmetov, and Holland’s Tijmen Van Loon, while Wallace begins her campaign in the women’s flying 200m sprint qualifying heats.
Both Paul and Phillip line up in the men’s flying 200m sprint qualifying heats, with Wallace competing in the keirin heats.
Last week in Hong Kong, the T&T team of Zion Pulido, Phillip and Paul had a sixth-placed finish in the men’s Team Sprint for 260 points.
Individually, Paul had a best finish of fourth in the men’s sprint final to secure 600 points, while Phillip was ninth and picked up 400 points, and among the women, Wallace was 33rd and Phoebe Sandy 39th, for one point each.
In the keirin, Paul was tenth and earned himself 360 points, with Phillip 37th, while in the women’s category, Wallace was 26th and Sandy 38th.
Akil Campbell was 24th in the men’s omnium, while his sister, Teniel Campbell, was 20th in the women’s event, and in the elimination race, Akil was 19th and Teniel, 22nd.
At the end of the three-day third and final World Cup stop, the final standings will not only serve to crown the overall winners but also shape the hierarchy as nations battle for qualifying quotas for the 2026 Tissot UCI Track World Championships in Shanghai, China, in October, and the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, USA.
The final leg in Malaysia will also play a key role in shaping the hierarchy among nations vying for qualification quotas for the 2026 Tissot UCI Track World Championships (Shanghai, China) in October.
As the final three days of competition began on Friday, Australia remained the favourite, although strong performances from China and Japan mean the battle is still wide open.
