A physically unwell Azizulhasni Awang cycled hard but ran out of gas and finished sixth in the men's keirin final at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on Friday.
The 30-year-old was the only Malaysian rider reaching the final after Fadhli Zonis crashed out in the first round heat and Shah Firdaus Sahrom failed to qualify from the first round repechage.
After finishing second in the first and second round, the former world champion struggled to keep up with the pace in the final due to a chest infection he picked up during the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in the Netherlands last month.
He finished 0.386s behind Australia's Matt Glaetzer, who defended his Commonwealth Games gold from four years ago and was joined on the podium by Wales' Lewis Oliva and New Zealand's Edward Dawkins.
Despite his sixth-place finish, Azizulhasni remained happy with his performance.
"The first and second round went smoother than expected and even the coach [John Beasley] was impressed with my performance," he told Astro Arena after the final.
"I myself could not believe that I did as well as I did [and reached the final].
"In the final, we only had a short break after the second round and I struggled due to my chest infection.
"Unfortunately we could not do anything about it and all I could do was to focus on what I was in control of.
"I tried to control my breathing and cycle comfortably to relax myself, but when I tried to move in front as planned, I just ran out of gas.
"It felt like I was in a trapped room without oxygen and I struggled to breathe.
"It is disappointing [not to win] but I tried my best."
It proved to be a poor day overall for the Malaysian cycling contingent, as the women's sprint event saw Farina Shawati Adnan lose to Canada's Lauriane Genest in the eighth-finals and Fatehah Mustapa beaten by New Zealand's Natasha Hansen in the quarter-finals.
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Seng Foo Lee
Fri Apr 06 2018
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