KOTA TINGGI, May 18 (Bernama) -- Malaysia’s Yap Qi Yi failed to retain the men’s Desaru Coast Sprint Triathlon title when he finished second in the race here today.
Yap, 18, who is from Kuala Lumpur, finished the three-discipline race in 1 hour and 8 minutes, behind the winner Cedric Chua of Singapore (1 hr 6 min). Third was Rich Bacon of the United Kingdom (1 hr 11 min).
Yap said he lost to Chua after being penalised for cycling too close to athletes in front of him.
The sprint triathlon consisted of a 750-metre swim, a 20km cycling event and a 5km run.
“Despite failing to retain the title, I’m still happy to emerge as the best Malaysian competitor in this category,” he told reporters at the Ironman 70.3 Asia Triclub Championship Desaru Coast.
Yap said he is confident of finishing as the best Malaysian athlete in the Asia Triathlon Cup Osaka Castle in Japan next week.
Yap, who also won the national duathlon (bike-run) title last year, is challenging himself to clock under one hour in future to remain as the Malaysian king of sprint triathlon.
“I may be new in extreme sports but I’m determined to lift the country’s name in Ironman championships,” he added.
Ironman Asia regional director CG Lim said apart from the regular individual races, group events were introduced this year to attract more participants.
The three-day Ironman 70.3 Asia Triclub Championship Desaru Coast will end tomorrow.
-- BERNAMA
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