Henry splashes to gold, Alyssa rides to silver at CYG

In fun company: Track cyclist Nur Alyssa Mohd Farid, who claimed silver in the women’s sprint, posing with the mascot.

PETALING JAYA: It was double joy for Malaysia as two 17-year-olds - Hendry Goh Li Hen and Nur Alyssa Mohd Farid – rose to the occasion to deliver surprise medals in different disciplines on the penultimate day of the Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) in Trinidad and Tobago.

Swimmer Henry claimed the country’s first gold medal after winning the men’s 200m butterfly final in Port of Spain on Wednesday evening.

Henry, representing the country for the first time, clocked 2:03.63s to pip England’s Reuben Rowbotham-Keating (2:03.84s) to the first position on the last day of the swimming competition.

South African Jarden Dylan won the bronze with 2:06.07s.

Henry was the second fastest swimmer to qualify for the final with 2:05.75s earlier in the day and the final timing was his personal best.

His previous best was 2:03.89s posted at the Singapore national meet in June.

Henry is the first Malaysian to win a swimming gold in the Games since Welson Sim, who won the men’s 400m freestyle in the 2015 edition in Samoa.

Flexing it: Swimmer Henry Goh won gold for Malaysia in the men’s 200m butterfly at the Youth Commonwealth Games. He was representing the country for the first time.

“I am very honoured to represent Malaysia for the first time in this Games. I was hoping to get into the final but it was a bonus to get a medal,” said the Selangor-born swimmer, who trains at Turtle Swimming Academy in Shah Alam under coach Syaizalah Kamarudin.

Henry will have no rest as he will need to prepare for the South-East Asian (SEA) age-group swimming championships in Jakarta end of this month.

Meanwhile, track cyclist Alyssa brought cheers at the National Velodrome in Couva when she claimed silver in the women’s sprint after finishing behind Sarah Johnson of Scotland in the final.

Australia’s Liliya Tatarinoff edged another Malaysian Amber Yong Ann Tung in the bronze medal round.

It is the second medal for Malaysia in cycling after Lau New Joe romped to a bronze in the men’s road race event on Monday.

It is only the second international competition for Johor-born Alyssa after winning a silver in her first race in the junior ranks at the Asian Championships in Nilai in June.

National junior coach Zamani Mustarudin said the young riders were shaping up well.

“Their good performances were not expected, especially from the road event where New Joe won the bronze medal,” said Zamani.

“The level in the Commonwealth Youth Games is quite high and we didn’t set any medal target but we took the challenge to follow the senior team’s footsteps.

“We are satisfied with the results so far,” he said.