Bauge beats Awang to world cycling sprint crown

PRUSZKOW, Poland (AFP) — Frenchman Gregory Bauge overcame a tough test against Malaysia's Azizulhasni Awang of Malaysia to win the world sprint crown here at the world track cycling championships on Sunday.

Awang took the silver medal with another Frenchman, Kevin Sireau, beating Australian Shane Perkins to take the bronze.

The men's sprint tournament is traditionally the most coveted of all track cycling events, and it lived up to that billing thanks to the unexpected rise of Awang to the final.

And the little pocket rocket from northern Malaysia, who trains at his team's base in Melbourne, Australia, threatened to cause a major upset against the sprint superpowers.

After Bauge had been given the decision from a photo finish in the first leg of their final, the tactically astute Awang forced the match into a decider after outwitting Bauge in the second leg.

In the decider, however, Bauge took no chances, forcing an early lead on his smaller rival and using all his power to charge towards a convincing win.

Bauge, based in Creteil near Paris and trained by French track legend Florian Rousseua, thus succeeds absent injured Briton Sir Chris Hoy, also the reigning Olympic champion, to take his first world gold in the sprint.