PETALING JAYA: Veteran Khairulnizam Mohd Afendy saved the blushes for the sailing team as he picked up a bronze medal as Nur Shazrin Mohd Latif missed out on her title defence in the women's dinghy (ILCA 7) class at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
Khairulnizam, a four-time Olympian, settled for the bronze in the men's dinghy (ILCA 7) with 14 points behind Nicholas Bezy Halliday of Hong Kong (11).
It was the third career Asian Games medal for the 33-year-old Khairulnizam, who finished with silver in Incheon (2014) and Jakarta (2018).
Ha Jee-min claimed his fourth Asian Games gold medal for South Korea with nine points.
Shazrin, the winner at the last Asiad in Hangzhou three years ago, conceded defeat after only finishing seventh overall with 35 points.
Thai teenager Sophia Montgomery claimed the gold with five points ahead of Singapore's Jania Ang (13).
Both Jee-min and Montgomery booked their tickets to Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
Malaysia also earned two more bronze medals in the boys' and girls' skiff events through Mohd Adam Aierell-Musmuliadi Iqbal Nazham and Nor Izniey Humaira-Aina Zulaikha Azizul Rahman respectively.
