Beyond expectations
Malaysia clinch two silver and two bronze medals
PETALING JAYA: The shuttlers and swimmers put Malaysia to a superb start with four medals in the bag on the first day of competition at the Asian Para Games in Jakarta.
Badminton delivered the first medal for Malaysia after the men’s team standing category (SL3-SL5) settled for silver in the final following a 1-2 defeat by Indonesia at Istora Senayan Stadium yesterday.
Bakri Omar lost the first singles 6-21, 12-21 to Fredy Setiawan.
However, Cheah Liek HouHairul Fozi Saaba continued to give hope for Malaysia with a 21- 10, 21- 17 win over Hafizh Brilliansyah-Hary Susanto.
However, singles player Mohammad Faris Ahmad Azri failed to get the better of Indonesian rival Deva Anrimusthi in the deciding game.
Faris was beaten 6-21, 12-21 as the hosts rejoiced with the first gold medal of the Asian Para Games.
Malaysia reached the final after coming from behind to beat India 2-1 earlier in the morning.
Top seeds Indonesia reached the final with a 2- 0 win over Thailand in the other semi-final tie.
Malaysia, who had a first-round bye, had beaten Vietnam 2-0 in the quarters on Saturday.
Malaysian paralympic badminton coach Abdul Rani Jaafar said his players gave their best against Indonesia.
“We were targeting to qualify for the semi-finals but the boys went a step further to ensure the first medal for Malaysia at the Asian Para Games by making the final.
“This is the first time the team event is held at the Asian Para Games and it will boost their con- fidence in the individual competitions after this,” he said.
Sarawak swimmer Fraidden Dawan later contributed the second silver for the Malaysian camp.
Fraidden finished second in the men’s 100m S10 butterfly final with 1:07.66 behind Iran’s Izadyar Shahin (1:07.12).
Australia- based James Wong and Anderson Anak Jamba bagged bronze medals in the men’s 200m individual medley SM8 final ( 2: 50.24) and the men’s 100m breaststroke SB4 final ( 2: 20.94) respectively.
RESULTS
BADMINTON
Men’s team standing category (SL3-SL5) Final: Indonesia bt Malaysia 2-1 (Fredy Setiawan bt Bakri Omar 21-6. 21-12; Hafizh Brilliansyah-Hary Susanto lost to Cheah Liek Hou-Hairul Fozi Saaba 10-21, 17-21; Deva Anrimusthi bt Mohammad Faris Ahmad Azri 21-6, 21-12).
SWIMMING
Men
100m butterfly S10: 1. Izadyar Shahin (Iri) 1:07.12, 2. Fraidden Dawan (Mas) 1:07.66, 3. Li Dmitriy (Kaz) 1:07.77.
100m breaststroke SB4: 1. Nguyen Thanh Trung (Vie) 1:48.91, 2. Kaewkham Voravit (Tha) 1:59.14, 3. Anderson Anak Jamba (Mas) 2:20.94.
200m individual medley SM8: 1. Xu Haijiao (Chn) 2:20.19, 2. Huang Xianquan (Chn) 2:44.22, 3. James Wong (Mas) 2:50.24.