The 19-year-old Azizul lived up to his billing as the Asian record holder by capturing the 200m sprint gold with a fine 2-0 win over Doha Asian Games silver medallist Choi Lae-seon of South Korea in the final.

The pint-sized Azizul, who hails from Dungun in Terengganu, thus became the first Malaysian and probably the only Asian to capture both prized sprint titles. He had successfully retained his Asian keirin title two days ago.

Azizul, who had beaten Tang Qi of China in similar clean fashion in the semi-finals, was delighted to live up to the expectations put on his shoulders in the absence of the more experienced team-mate Josiah Ng.

“I was psyching myself up for a tough battle in the final against the Asian Games silver medallist but I never expected it to be that easy. My coach (John Beasley) told us to wind down for the Asian championships because the Olympic qualifying period has ended. But I raced to win and I was determined to show what I am capable of. This is the best moment for me because I am now the holder of both the 200m sprint and keirin Asian titles,” said Azizul.