NILAI: Azizulhasni Awang settled for silver in the sprint event though he can still hold his head high at the Asian Track Championships (ATC) on Monday.
Azizulhasni, who won the gold in the discipline last year, lost to Japan’s Kazunari Watanabe in the final.
Kazunari took the first heat, edging Azizulhasni to the finish line by less than half-a-wheel. The second heat was even closer with Kazunari's advantage over the finish line barely two inches over Azizulhasni.
South Korean Im Chaebin defeated Kazkhstan's Pavel Vorzhev in the bronze playoff.
Earlier today, Azizulhasni had no difficulty overcoming India's Ranjit Singh and Japan's Tomohiro Fukaya in the first round and quarterfinals but was forced to go to a decider against Vorzhev in the last-four.
The event was even more meaningful for Azizulhasni as he had broken the 10-second barrier at sea level for the first time in his career.
Azizulhasni clocked 9.774s for top spot in the sprint qualifying round, bettering both his own national record of 10.073s as well as the Asian record of 9.843s.
Shah Firdaus Sahrom had also gone sub-10 in qualifying for the first time, clocking 9.97s for fifth. He, however, lost to China's Bi Wenjun in the first round.
"Shah went out for qualifying first and when I saw him going sub-10 it really got me pumped up. I felt really good but I was only expecting to go about 9.8s," added Azizulhasni.
The women's omnium saw Ju Pha Som Net, who won the points race on Friday, settled for seventh in the women's omnium on 109 points.
In the men's juniors, Zulhelmi Zainal gave the crowd much to cheer for as he edged Kazakhstan's Maxim Gridchin to the gold in the individual pursuit. Zulhelmi clocked 3:24.985s in the final.
Alif Aiman Safuan also did well to take the silver in the sprint. He lost to India's E. Esow in the final.
Meanwhile, sports minister Khairy Jamaluddin confirmed that Malaysia will bid to host a UCI Track World Cup series round for the 2019-2020 season.