PETALING JAYA: Azizulhasni Awang produced another masterclass performance to finish off his last Asian Games appearance with a third career gold medal in Shizuoka, 16 years after winning his first in Guangzhou.
The 38-year-old was fourth going into the bend at Izu Velodrome but used his experience to accelerate past China's Li Zhiwei (second place) to the finish line and secured the win.
China's Xie Han came in third while Azizul's teammate Mohd Shah Firdaus Sahrom was fifth in the final.
It was Azizul's third career Asian Games gold medal after emerging victorious in the men's individual sprint in Indonesia in 2018 and winning the keirin gold in his Asiad in Guangzhou eight years earlier (2010).
The former world champion had earlier won his semi-final heat, finishing ahead of Minato Nakaishi (Japan) and Hong Kong's Yung Tsun Ho, who were second and third.
Shah Firdaus was third in his semi-final group behind China duo Xie Han and Li Zhiwei.
Despite his advancing years, Azizul has been in superb form this season, winning keirin gold at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in August as well two UCI Track World Cup series keirin gold medals earlier this year
