THE women cyclists rode to two silvers as the cycling competition concluded at the Games.
Nur Aisyah Zubir was beaten in a sprint dash to the finish line in the individual road race by Vietnam’s two-time Asian champion Nguyen Thi That in Hoa Binh province.
The Vietnamese retained the title she won in the 2019 edition in the Philippines in 2’13:15.
Indonesia’s Delia Ayustina Priatna, the only other rider in the breakaway group, claimed bronze in the 88.5km race.
Malaysia also had to settle for second best in the team category.
Nur Aisyah and her teammates Siti Nur Adibah Akma, Nur Aisyah Munirah Chek Ramli, Jupha Somnet and Yeong Zhen Yi clocked 6’42:15.
Adibah and Munirah earned top-10 finishes in the individual event, placing sixth and ninth respectively.
It was the third medal for Nur Aisyah as she bagged bronze in the criterium earlier in the week.
Hosts Vietnam won the team gold with 6’42:11 while Thailand came in third with 6’43:48.
Team manager Firdaus Arshad said he was pleased to see Nur Aisyah securing the individual silver but believed they could have challenged for the gold if not for an unfortunate incident.
“We are still grateful to secure another two silvers on the final day,” said Firdaus.
“It was great to see Nur Aisyah finishing the race very strongly.
“We are, however, slightly disappointed not to win the team gold as we had a chance of doing so until the final kilometre when Jupha crashed.
“I am still pleased with our overall performance in both the mountain bike and road events,” he said.
The cyclists enjoyed a strong outing in Hanoi winning a gold, silver and bronze through mountain bike and one gold, two silvers and two bronzes via the road discipline.
Malaysia only managed a bronze at the last Games.
