NO KNEE OP FOR HOLDER

World champion Chris Holder has confirmed he will not undergo knee surgery.

The Australian star visited a specialist in London today to discover whether or not he needed an operation to fix the damage he suffered in Poole’s Knockout Cup semi-final at Peterborough on October 25.

With the affected ligament behind Holder’s knee, surgery would have had its risks for the 25-year-old and could have left him sidelined for a year if things went wrong. So doctors have decided to let the bone heal naturally with the aid of a knee brace and then intense physio.

The SGP No.1 tweeted: “Good news! Not going to need an op on my knee! Pretty relieved about that! Just this brace for another five weeks! Then physio flat out.”

Holder has plenty of time to get himself fit for the season-opening New Zealand SGP at Auckland’s Western Springs Stadium on March 23.

He is set to return to Australia early next month after appearing at the FIM Gala Ceremony in Monaco on December 2, where he is nominated for the prestigious FIM Personality of the Year award.

FIM Speedway Under-21 World Championship frontrunners Michael Jepsen Jensen and Maciej Janowski are jointly nominated for the FIM Rookie of the Year prize. But only the rider who lifts the title in Argentina on Saturday is eligible to win the award.

To vote for Holder, MJJ and Janowski, click here: http://apps.facebook.com/my-polls/qjrflr.