RIDZUAN AND CO EYEING GOLD IN JAKARTA
ABDUL LATIF ROMLY (ATHLETICS)
> The 21-year-old should break his own Asian Games Para meet record of 7.01m to retain the men’s F20 (learning disability) long jump gold medal he won in Incheon four years ago.
> Abdul Latif cleared 7.37m to defend his title in the World Para Athletics Championships in London last year and better his own meet record of 7.35m, which he set en route to the gold in Doha, Qatar, in 2015.
> Abdul Latif, who is from Kangar, took gold at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and was the first Paralympian to win the Sportsman of the Year award.
ZIYAD ZOLKEFLI (ATHLETICS)
> Ziyad hurled 15.32m in his debut in the men’s shot putt T20 (learning disability) category in the Asian Para Games in Incheon, South Korea, for the gold four years ago.
> Since then, he has gone on to win two world titles and not forgetting, a glorious triumph at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
> The 28-year-old, who is from Selangor, broke the world record with a throw of 17.29m last year, erasing his previous world record of 16.84m he set at the Rio Paralympics.
> Malaysia can expect a gold from Ziyad in Jakarta.
CHEAH LIEK HOU (BADMINTON)
> National shuttler Lee Chong
Wei can only dream of what
Cheah Like Hou has achieved in para-badminton.
> The 30-year-old Liek Hou successfully defended the men’s singles title at the
BWF-Para World Championships in Ulsan, South Korea, last year.
> Liek Hou has 11 world titles
– including five in the men’s doubles – since the tournament’s inception in 1998.
> He is under the elite-only
Podium Programme and the shuttler, who was born with cerebral palsy and competes in the SU5 (impairment in the upper body) category, is hoping to cap his illustrious career with a gold at the Asian Para Games.
MOHD AZRIN RAHIM (BOWLING)
> Mohd Azrin had to give up the chance to compete in para bowling at the Asian Para Games in Incheon, South Korea, after a bout of fever forced him to skip the selection trials.
> The 33-year-old now hopes to catch up on lost time with a golden debut in Indonesia.
> Azrin competes in TPB9 (limb disability) category and won two golds and one silver at the Kuala Lumpur Asean Para Games last year.
> Azrin, who became disabled after he met with an accident while riding his motorcycle, is hoping to bag at least two gold medals in the Asian Para Games bowling competition.
FRAIDDEN DAWAN (SWIMMING)
> The 31-year-old is from a small village in Mukah near Sibu in Sarawak.
> Fraidden has made the Dayak community proud with his exploits since he started to swim for the country more than 10 years ago. Fraidden bagged one silver in the 200m individual medley and two bronzes for the 100m backstroke and 400m freestyle at the last Asian Para Games in Incheon.
> He is surely hoping to do better and qualify for the World Para Swimming Championships, which takes place in his home state next year.
> He is classified as a para-swimmer in the S8 category, which covers swimmers with joint restrictions in one limb or with double belowthe-knee amputations.