Fatehah and Muhd Shah deliver the goods Down Under

PETALING JAYA: Cyclists Fatehah Mustapa and Muhd Shah Firdaus Sahrom closed the year on a high at the 120th Austral Wheelrace in Melbourne.

Fatehah romped to third place in the women's keirin in the oldest cycling event in the world.

Australia’s Stephanie Morton, the silver medallist at this year's World Track Cycling Championships in Hong Kong in March, won the race while her teammate Caitlin Ward came in second on Sunday.

In the B final (7th-12th), Farina Shawati Mohd Adnan came in second.

Fatehah reached the final after placing third while Farina missed out after finishing fourth in their respective semi-finals.

Muhd Shah claimed silver in the men’s keirin behind reigning Commonwealth Games champion Matthew Glaetzer of Australia.

Another Australian Thomas Clarke came in third ahead of Azizulhasni Awang.

Azizul earlier won the second semi-final heat to qualify for the final while Shah Firdaus finished second behind Glaetzer in the first heats.

It has been a smashing year for Malaysian cycling with Azizul's historic win in the world meet as the crowning glory.

Azizul won the keirin in Hong Kong, the first Malaysian to become world champion in an Olympic discipline.

Azizul and Fatehah went on to lead the Malaysian cyclists to deliver 13 gold medals at the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games in August.

Fatehah also became the first cyclist to win four golds at the Games (keirin, sprint, 500m title trial and team sprint with Farina).

And earlier this month, she went on to bag the women’s Olympian of the Year award.

The year is coming to a close but coach John Beasley said training will continue at their Melbourne base.

“There will be a few breaks as we have a busy schedule over the next few months,” said Beasley.

“We have to get ready for the Asian Cycling Confederation Championships in Nilai and the World Track Cycling Championships in Apeldoorn, Holland in February.

“Then we have the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast (April) and the Jakarta Asian Games (August), so it's important for us to decide where we want to peak.”