The 29-year-old rider finished the 18.5km race in Kulen Mountain, Siem Reap, which is located about 320km from the Cambodian capital, in a time of 1:17:09s.

The success of the national women’s mountain bike champion was a repeat of her achievement at the last edition in Hanoi, Vietnam last year.

Sayu Bella Sukma Dewi of Indonesia topped the event which took place in weather conditions reaching almost 40° Celsius, with a time of 1:13.48s, while the bronze medal went to Thai rider Yonthanan Phonkla who recorded 1:18.42s.

Two other national riders, Phi Kun Pan and Natahsya Soon, finished the race in eighth and 10th position respectively after recording times of 1:24:37s and 1:26:42s.

Team manager Saiful Jalil described Nur Assyira’s success as a surprise considering that Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines lined up some great riders.

“Yes, Nur Assyira won silver in Hanoi last year, but on paper, we didn’t have high hopes in the individual events because the other countries were fielding very good riders.

“We are grateful to be able to bring home the silver medal today. Our target is in the cross-country team relay event, where we hope to contribute a gold medal for Malaysia tomorrow,” he said.

The national mountain biking squad created history at the Hanoi edition when they won their first SEA Games gold medal in the team cross-country relay event.