| Fadhil Yunus |
BRUNEI Darussalam national cycling team moved out of medal contention in the Men’s Team Sprint in the 29th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games after posting a time of 52.151s at the National Velodrome in Nilai yesterday.
The national trio Ahmad Rifaie Haji Johor, Azmi Abd Hadzid and Md Nurjamri Johari was placed fifth out of five teams after posting the slowest time in Qualifying Heats 3.
Malaysia’s trio Shariz Efendi Shahrin, Fadhil Zonis and Khairil Nizam Rasol clinched the gold medal after beating Thailand in the final who settled for silver with Indonesia claiming bronze in the Men’s Team Sprint.
The host nation qualified to the finals with the quickest time of 45.318s while Thailand recorded a time of 45.717s.
Singapore was the third quickest with a time of 46.882s while Indonesia clocked a time of 46.956s with both nations moving for the bronze medal decider.
In the gold medal decider, Malaysia, who had a great deal of hype of their work ethic, beat Thailand with a time of 44.776s.
In the race for bronze, the Indonesians had a powerful start which paved the way for Reno Yudha Sansako to establish a good lead and finished off by Muhammad Nur Fathoni.
Meanwhile, national duo Abd Hadrie Morsidi and Ahmad Rifaie Haji Johor were part of the chasing pack that were blown away in a breakaway by Malaysia’s Irwandie Lakasek and Thailand’s Thurakit Boonratanathanakorn in the Men’s Scratch finals.
Malaysia’s Irwandie struck gold after making his move in the final two rounds to steer away from Thailand’s Thurakit whose best attempts of foiling the Malaysian’s quest keeping in touch with him until the final moment was awarded with the consolation of silver.
Thailand’s Thanawut Sanikwathi claimed bronze while Malaysia’s Muhamad Afiq Huznie bin Othman missed out on a podium finish in fourth.
National rider Ahmad Rifaie was placed sixth while Abd Hadrie ended at the bottom in the 11-entrant race.
The Men’s Scratch event was last contested in the 2011 edition in Palembang with Mohd Harrif Saleh taking gold.
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