The world No 1 tower runner dominated the race from the start by climbing the 552 flight of stairs at the 25-storey building with a  time of 1:49s to erase the 1:57s record he set last year.

The 30-year-old’s victory was even more memorable when his protege, Hazim Zuhairi Azahari, came in second by clocking 2:05s, with Taiwan’s Ching Chun Lo finishing third in 2:16s.

“The competition today was quite tough because we had the world No 10 from Taiwan and my protege, who is ranked 12th in the world. They gave me a good fight and, since the tower is quite low at only 25 storeys, anything could have happened.

“Overall, I am satisfied because I clocked the best time. But I feel I can go faster because I started to slow down in the last five floors,” Wai Ching told Bernama.

Asked about Hazim’s performance, he said he was proud of the 22-year-old’s achievement, especially in defeating the higher-ranked Taiwanese ace.

“This is a good sign for him and I hope he continues to excel in this sport. I hope he can get into the world’s top five by the end of this year so that there will be a replacement for me when I call it quits one day,” he said.

Malaysia enjoyed a 1-2-3 finish in the women’s open category with national ace Nurul Juliana Shakira Abdul Hallim clocking 3mins to dethrone compatriot Tan Bee Kiang (3:03s) and Valerie Sarah Ong (3:16s).