Power-packed para show

IT wasn’t “third time lucky” for Malaysia when the nation hosted the Asean Para Games on Sept 17-23.

Though having staged the Para Games twice previously, Malaysia failed to match its feat as overall champions in 2001.

Indonesia’s para-athletes beat Malaysia to the overall title, bagging 126 gold, 75 silver and 50 bronze for a 251 total to top the medals table.

Malaysia managed to collect 90 gold, 85 silver and 83 bronze for a 258 total.

Nevertheless, finishing runners-up was commendable for Malaysia as several national para athletes made an impact on the 9th edition of the Games.

The biennial Para Games started with world champion Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli and Paralympic gold medallist Abdul Latif Romly as the flag bearers. And the dynamic duo duly delivered for Malaysia with gold.

Ziyad, 27, became the first ever Paralympic athlete to compete in both the Sea Games and Para Games. Competing against able bodied athletes in the Sea Games, he creditably won bronze.

Not only did the shot putt world record holder win gold in the Para Games, he also broke the Games record with a throw of 16.81m in the men’s F20 (learning disability). He bettered his own record by more than one metre (15.69m set in Myanmar in 2014).

Although Malaysia’s athletes did not win half of the 134 gold medals on offer in track and field, the national para track cycling team contributed greatly when they made a clean sweep of the 12 gold medals at the National Velodrome in Nilai.

At the courts in Jalan Duta, Malaysia emerged as overall champions in wheelchair tennis, capturing two of the three gold medals on offer.

Malaysia’s para goalball team rose to the occasion to provide the nation’s final gold at the Asean Para Games.

The national team ended Thailand’s 12-year dominance by producing a 9-5 win in a rousing final.

Notably, Malaysia’s para athletes broke 10 Games records along the way, seven in para swimming, one in powerlifting and two in para athletics.

Unfortunately, the Para Games was tainted by the arrest of a volunteer wheelchair tennis coach at the National Tennis Centre in Jalan Duta on the final day of the event for sodomising ballboys. Farah Azharie