Malaysia sweep both track cycling team sprint gold

NILAI: The track cycling squad met expectations when they bagged the gold in both the men's and women's team sprint events at the National Velodrome here tonight.
The men's team comprised Mohamad Shariz Efendi Mohd Shahrin, Muhamad Fadhil Mohd Zonis and Mohamad Khairil Nizam Rasol while women's team were represented by sprint queen Fatehah Mustafa and Farina Shawati Mohd Adnan.
Both teams completed the 750m and 500m races in 44.776 seconds and 34.671 seconds respectively.
In the men's team event, the host racers were ahead of Thailand to clinch the gold while Indonesia came in third for the bronze.
In the women's team sprint, Malaysia claimed the gold with Indonesia taking the silver and Thailand the bronze.
The presence of more than 2,000 vociferous spectators at the National Velodrome here tonight gave the Malaysian team a big boost to their performance.
Meanwhile Muhamad Fadhil said the team members were overwhelmed by their success tonight.
"We have been together for four years and I would like to dedicate the victory to my father Mohd Zonis Mokhtar, 54, who is being treated at Klang Hospital," he said.
For Kharil Nizam, the gold medal was all the more meaningful after having celebrated his 20th birthday three days ago.
Fatehah said the team's success on the first day alone would auger well for three more gold medals in the competition.
Meanwhile, Malaysia also picked up a bronze in the women's Omnium through Ju Pha Som Net.
Ju Pha collected 138 points in four Omnium stages, 26 points behind Thailand's Jutatip Maneephan who bagged the gold (164 points) and Lou Yiwei of Singapore (161 points) the bronze. — Bernama