Pride of their nation
The Asean Para Games shone the spotlight on these para athletes.
THE just-concluded 9th Asean Para Games saw para athletes giving their all in pursuit of glory for their countries.
In total, 16 sports were contested; they were archery, athletics, badminton, boccia, chess, cycling, football 5-a-side, football 7-a-side, goalball, powerlifting, volleyball, swimming, table tennis, bowling, wheelchair tennis and wheelchair basketball.
Here are the para athletes who stood out in their quest for gold:
ADI RAIMIE AMIZAZAHAH, 17 Para cycling, Malaysia
At the age of six, Adi Raimie almost lost his life after he fell in a playground. He sustained head injuries and had to undergo brain surgery to release pressure due to a blood clot. However, he ended up being paralysed on one side of his body.
After bagging the first gold for Malaysia in the Asean Para Games, Adi Raimie became the pride of the nation; he grabbed the gold in the men’s (C1/C2/C3) 1km time trial in a new personal best time of 1:17.232.
S. THAVANESVARAN, 18 Para athletics, Malaysia
Talk about making a good first impression!
Thavanesvaran made his debut at the Games and won the 29th gold medal for Malaysia in the men’s 400m T44 event (amputation and others, including athletes with dwarfism) with a time of 56.43 seconds. Kyaw Kyaw Win of Myanmar and Chim Phan of Cambodia took the silver (56.48) and bronze (58.28) respectively. At the 300m mark, the Segamat para athlete trailed 5m behind blade runner Kyaw. However, he picked up speed in the last 100m to pip Kyaw to the finish.
Until he was seven, Thavanesvaran could not walk as the veins in his left foot were damaged when he was born. He was able to walk after surgery on his foot and calf. Even then, his left foot is smaller than his right.
The student and his teammates Ahmad Solihim Mohd Nor, Saiful Dawang and Eryanto Bahtiar also took silver in the men’s 4x100m T42-47.
HEMALA DEVI, 27 Para athletics, Malaysia
Malaysian Sportswoman of the Year 2011/2013 Hemala proved her might with her golden throws. She netted not one but two gold metals to add to Malaysia’s medal tally. She won her first gold in the Games for women’s discus throw F12 (32.46m) and her second at the women’s shot putt F11/12 (visual impairment). Hemala had fever when she was competing in the shot putt event on the second day of the Games. This is her fifth Asean Para Games outing.
AUNG MYING MYAT, 24 Para swimming, Myanmar
Aung scored three golds out of the four events he participated: the men’s 100m, 200m, 400m freestyle (S6) and 4x100m medley relay (34 points). He scored his first gold at the 9th Asean Para Games in the men’s 100m freestyle.
In the men’s 200m freestyle, he clinched another gold for his country and went on to break the record with a time of 2:45.99. The previous record was 2:54.60. He won his third gold medal in the men’s 400m freestyle (S6).
PUTRI AULIA, 22
Para athletics, Indonesia
Putri has proven that visual impairment is no stumbling block. The young runner raced through the wind to hit the finishing line first, winning the gold in the 400m and clocking in at 63.13 seconds.
She swept her third gold in the 200m category, too, her achievement pushing her country’s gold quest to the forefront, in the process.
MUHD HAIRUL MIRAN, 40 Ten-pin bowling, TPB1 (completely blind), Malaysia
An unfortunate accident at a rubber glove factory robbed him of his sight in 2002, but Hairul has learnt how to bowl people over in a new way – with his bowling skills.
He set the country on its gold trajectory by steam rolling the competition in the TPB1 category, posting a six-game total of 919 to win by 202 pins.
NUR FEIQHA MAULAD, 23 Chess, women’s individual standard (B2/B3), Malaysia
With the para games largely based on athleticism, Nur Feiqha has proven that brains are just as valuable as brawn.
The board-game exponent came out tops in her category, planning her every move meticulously to bag the coveted gold.
SAPTO YOGO PURNOMO, 19 Para athletics, Indonesia
Presents don’t get much more special — Sapto left his competitors eating his dust when he raced past the finish line in the 100m dash, on his 19th birthday.
Not even the heavy rain during the race could dampen his spirits or spoil the celebrations.