THE national contingent gave Malaysia an early Merdeka day present, achieving their 111 gold medal target at the Kuala Lumpur Sea Games (KL2017) today.
World keirin champion Azizulhasni Awang delivered the 111th gold for Malaysia by beating Shah Firdaus Sahrom in the All-Malaysian men's individual sprint final (track cycling) at the National Velodrome in Nilai.
Malaysian athletes won 15 gold medals in the competition today, completely dominating the rhythmic gymnastics and diving events.
Unofficially, Malaysia can be considered as already being the overall champions of KL2017 as second placed Thailand trail by over 50 gold.
The Thais, however, still have a numerical, though unlikely, chance of beating Malaysia to the title, with only 67 gold on offer on the final two days of competition.
Azizulhasni, nicknamed The Pocket Rocketman, lived up to his top billing as he beat Shah Firdaus over two races.
The 109th and 110th gold medals also came from the National Velodrome, and in all-Malaysian finals to boot as Malaysians continued to show their class in the field.
In the men's individual pursuit, it was Eiman Firdaus Mohd Zamri who clinched the gold medal when he defeated compatriot Mohd Nur Aiman Mohd Zariff with a time of 4:33.863s.
Later, Fatehah Mustapa prevailed over Farina Shawati Mohd Adnan in the women’s sprint category.
The men’s omnium category, meanwhile, saw Malaysia pick up another silver medal, with Sofian Nabil Omar Mohd Bakri’s strong effort to collect 136 points proving just four points short of Singapore's Calvin Sim. Malaysia’s other cyclist in the category, Zawawi Azman, ended in seventh spot with 106 points.