Malaysians score in badminton, swimming
national contingent did well to win two silver and two bronze on the second day of competition at the Indonesia Asian Para Games in Jakarta yesterday.
Malaysia clinched their first medal at the quadrennial games through badminton in the men’s team event standing class (SL3SU5).
The national squad went down 2-1 to hosts Indonesia in the final at Istora Senayan.
Norhilmie Mohd Zainudin lost 21-6, 21-12 in the opening singles.
Doubles pair Cheah Liek Hou-Hairul Fozi Saaba, however, levelled for Malaysia after downing Prawiranegara Hafizh Briliansyah-Susanto Hary 21-10, 21-17.
Indonesia’s Anrimusthi Dheva defeated Faris Ahmad Azri 21-6, 21-12 in the deciding singles.
The squad defeated India 2-1 in the semi-finals.
In swimming, the national squad clinched one silver and two bronze at the Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex.
James Wong won a bronze in the men’s 200m individual medley for the SM8 (physical impairment) category after clocking two minutes and 50.24 seconds in the final.
China’s Xu Haijiao won the gold in 2:20.19s while compatriot Huang Xianquan finished second on 2:44.22s.
Fraidden Dawan then secured a silver in the men’s 100m butterfly S10 (physical impairment) by clocking 1:07.66s.
Iran’s Izadyar Shahin took the gold on 1:07.12s while Dmitriy Li (1:07.77s) of Kazakhstan completed the podium.
The men’s 100m breaststroke SB4 (physical impairment) final witnessed Anderson Jamba taking the bronze on 2:20.94s.
Vietnam’s Nguyen Thanh Trung (1:48.91s) and Thailand's Kaewkham Voravit (1:59.14s) won gold and silver respectively.
Athletics will be the focus today with a total of 33 gold medals on offer while another 20 will be up for grabs in swimming.