All eyes, however, were fixed on the national women’s trio of Aliana Syafika Azizan, Nurul Izzah Asri, and Anis Amira Rosidi as they delivered Malaysia’s first medal in the event since it was introduced at the 2014 edition in Incheon, South Korea.

In the bronze medal race, the national trio clocked 49.025s to defeat Taiwan’s trio of Hsiao Mei-yu, Wang Tzu-chun, and Chen Ching-yun, who clocked 50.344s.

China captured gold through Guo Yufang, Bao Shanju, and Yuan Liying, who broke the Asian and Games record by clocking 46.376s, defeating the South Korean trio of Hwang Hyeon-seo, Kim Ha-eun, and Cho Sun-yong, who were timed at 50.012s.

The previous Asian record of 46.466 and the Games mark of 46.900s were held by China.

Meanwhile, the national men’s trio of Umar Hasbullah, Ridwan Sahrom, and Fadhil Mohd Zonis also did well to clock 44.165s in the bronze medal race against Taiwan’s Yang Sheng-kai, Kang Shih-feng, and Hsiao Shih-hsin, who clocked 44.276s.

The Malaysian team clearly felt the absence of track cycling ace Azizulhasni Awang as they failed to defend the silver they won in the 2018 edition in Jakarta-Palembang, Indonesia.

Japan, featuring Yoshitaku Nagasako, Kaiya Ota, and Yuta Obara, powered to the gold medal in 42.934s, a new Games record, while China, comprising Guo Shuai, Zhou Yu, and Liu Qi, settled for silver in 42.968s.