MALAYSIA’S sailing squad can come home from the 2023 Cambodia SEA Games with smiles on their faces after achieving their target of two gold medals on the final day of competition at the Sihanoukville Boulevard, about 200km from Phnom Penh.

The two gold medals were contributed by Muhammad Hafizin Mansor from the RS:X class and Izry Hafiezy Fitri Azri from the RS: One class after having dominated the race from day one of the competition last Tuesday.

However, the sailing camp’s hopes of clinching a sensational third gold medal in the games evaporated when the pair of Abdul Latif Mansor-Muhammad Dhiauddin Rozaini were pipped in the final moments of the race in the 29er class.

The duo were in the lead for 12 races but had to be satisfied with the silver medal in the end.

Meanwhile, the sailing squad also collected four bronze medals through Nur Adlina Nasreen Mohd Nasri (ILCA 6 class), Muhammad Asnawi Iqbal Adam (ILCA 4), Muhammad Faizal Ahmad Asri (ILCA 7) and Muhammad Hilfi Nafael Mohd Hasrizan-Sara Amanda Mohd Noor Azman (mixed optimist class).

Sailing team manager Muhammad Fariz Idham Mat Zaki said the squad’s achievement in Cambodia would serve as a stepping stone for the country’s sailors to scale new heights in the future.

“We will certainly work hard to achieve better results in the next games,” he said.

“In the long term, we hope to qualify for the Olympics. It will not be impossible because we have a set of talented sailors.”

The squad failed to win a gold medal at the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines while sailing was not part of the programme in the 2021 SEA Games hosted by Vietnam. – Bernama, May 8, 2023.