NILAI: Cycling twins, Muhammad Ameer Ahmad Kamal and Muhammad Ameen Ahmad Kamal, 22 , were stunned to win a gold medal for the country in their first Sea Games appearance.
The twins said they could not believe the ears when it was announced the national cycling team had won the team time trial event.
Apart from the twins, the team also comprised Nik Mohd Azwan Zulkiflie, 27, and Muhammad Fauzan Ahmad Lutfi, 31, who was team leader.
“My brother and I are touched by the gold medal in our first attempt. We are very thankful to Fauzan for guiding us during training and the race.
Meanwhile Muhammad Fauzan said he harnessed upon his 16 years cycling experience to drive the team and the gold medal was really worth the effort.
“From my experience, I was able to space out the ride and conserve the energy of my teammates to win the race,” he said.
He added that they also ended a 12-year drought in the event for Malaysia with the last gold won the 2005 Sea Games in Manila, Philippines.
Meanwhile coach Syed Husaini Syed Mazlan said he was proud of the performance of his charges despite some quarters expressing reservation with his selection.
“Although we began as underdogs, the team proved the detractors wrong. We are also thankful to the National Sport Council in Terengganu for providing bicycles to the national squad.
In the men’s team time trial, the national team completed the 51 kilometre race in
1:01:37 for the gold while Thailand clocked 1 hour 1 minute 56 seconds to take the silver and the bronze medal went Vietnam with a time of 1 hour 2 minutes.--BERNAMA