Malaysia’s Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom overcame a lingering knee injury to claim a heroic silver from the men’s keirin competition at the Asian Track Cycling Championships, in front of his home fans.

But he couldn’t quite deliver the dream result at the Nilai track, with Japan’s Shinji Nakano snatching gold at the line, and Kaiya Ota taking bronze just behind.

Nakano and Ota had contested the sprint final at the weekend, with Ota winning in two. Shah Firdaus had taken what he described as an unexpected bronze, beating his brother Muhammad Ridwan Sahrom in two.

The Malaysians have made the most of home advantage, far surpassing the target of three medals set by national coach Mohd Harnizam Basri. Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri had won the women’s event minutes earlier, and goes again in Wednesday’s kilo.

The keirin title remains with the Japanese team, following the victory of Kento Yamasaki in New Delhi last year. The world champion stayed at home this year, to compete in a pro keirin event.