SOLO, Aug 4 — The national contingent exceeded their 16-gold target on the fourth day of the 11th Asean Para Games here yesterday as they bagged five golds, one silver and one bronze to take their medal haul so far to 18-11-2.
The national swimmers, the biggest gold medal contributors, continued their superb form by winning all four events they competed in at the Jatidiri Aquatic Centre in Semarang.
Ethan Khoo Yin Jun kicked off the gold rush in the pool by splashing to a new Games record en route to winning the men’s 100-metre (m) freestyle S14 (intellectual impairment) event.
There was no stopping Ethan as he went on to bag gold in the men’s 200m individual medley SM14 category also in a new Games record time as Mohd Adib Iqbal Abdullah came in second to earn silver.
The much-awaited gold No. 16 finally came courtesy of Fraidden Dawan, who won the men’s 100m butterfly S10 (physical impairment) category before Muhammad Imaan Aiman Muhammad Redzuan capped the swimming camp’s gold feast by setting a new Games record en route to winning the men’s 100m butterfly S14 category.
Muhamad Ashraf Mohamad Haisham contributed the sole gold from athletics when he defended his title in the men’s 1,500m T46 (physical impairment) category at the Manahan Stadium.
Malaysia’s only bronze medal yesterday was delivered by the newly-formed combination of Nurfaizal Hamzah-S. Suresh in the men’s team recurve archery event.
All eyes will continue to be on the national swimmers on Day Five today as they are expected to win at least two out of the five events they will be competing in.
In athletics, Muhamad Ashraf, who is also the APG record holder for the men’s 800m T46 event that he had set en route to winning at the 2015 edition in Singapore, is expected to complete his hat-trick of gold medals in the event, having also triumphed in the 2017 edition in Kuala Lumpur.
Over at the Kota Barat Stadium, Malaysia will be counting on compound archer G. Daneshen to mark his Games debut with a medal when he takes on Sakon Inkaew of Thailand in the men’s individual final.
Meanwhile, Malaysian shuttlers will be involved in eight semi-finals, including the mouth-watering clash between 2020 Tokyo Paralympic finalists Cheah Liek Hou and his Indonesian nemesis Dheva Anrimusthi in the men’s singles SU5 category.
— Bernama
