National Para Cycling Squad Grab Three More Gold Medals

NILAI (Negeri Sembilan), Aug 23 (Bernama) -- The national para cycling squad continued their winning streak on the second day of the Southeast Asia Grand Prix Track / Malaysia Para Track 1 at the National Velodrome, as they swept three gold medals during the first session Friday. The three events were the C1-C5 mixed team sprint, men's tandem class blind (B) and women's tandem class blind (B). The first gold medal was won by the national para cycling trio of Mohd Najib Turano, Zuhairie Ahmad Tazmizi and Mohamad Yusof Shaharuddin in the C1-C5 mixed team sprint event, while Muhammad Khairul Niza Mohd Ali and his pilot, Muhamad Khairul Adha Rasol contributed the gold medal in the men's time trial tandem class blind with a time of 11.952 seconds (s). The women’s squad were also in top form when Nur Suraiya Muhammad Zamri and her pilot, Nurul Suhada Zainal took the gold medal in the women's time trial tandem class blind with a time of 12.500s. Meanwhile, Singapore's young cyclist Elizabeth Liau Le Min was ecstatic after winning her first gold medal at the tournament. The 17-year-old claimed the gold medal in the women's junior point race event after accumulating 59 points to beat Malaysia's Norse Aisyah Munirah Chek Ramli (39 points) and Nur Alya Mohd Azli (10 points), who settled for the silver and bronze respectively. Elizabeth admitted that the win was a surprise for her and did not expect to win any medal as it is her debut competing in track cycling competition. "It is my first time racing in the track competition. I did not really know what to expect, but I just hope that I could do my best and I have a lot of support from my senior team and they give me a lot of advice. So, I try to apply it today," she told Bernama Friday. Although she took only a month to train on the track, Elizabeth, previously accustomed to the road races, exhibited excellent performance in the championship but admitted that she had to face fierce competition. -- BERNAMA