MALAYSIA retained the men’s para table tennis Class 9 gold medal following a 3-2 victory over Indonesia in the final round-robin competition match at MITEC on Tuesday (Sept 9).
The host nation, however, made a stuttering start towards achieving the target when Chee Chaoming lost 3-0 (6-11, 11-13 and 11-13) to Supriyatna Gumilar in the first game.
Veteran player Ting Ing Hock than turned the tables on the Indonesians by claiming victory against Ivan Darmawan 12-10, 11-5 and 11-5 in a 40-minute battle. The Indonesians came back strongly in the doubles event to go 2-1 up when their pair defeated Ing Hock-Chaoming 3-1 (6-11, 11-3, 11-5, 12-10).
The Malaysians, however, level the score 2-2 when Ing Hock prevailed 3-2 after a five-set tough encounter against Supriyatna with scores of 11-5, 11-6, 13-15, 8-11 and 11-8.
In the deciding encounter, Chaoming rose to the occasion to end Indonesia’s hopes with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, and 11-8) win over Damawan and in the process emerged champions for the second time.
The Malaysians also stand a chance of winning the second gold medal in the Class 10 final when the duo of Mohamad Azwar Bakar and Ahmad Syahir Mohd Kamal Saupi go head to head against Indonesia in the last round robin match on Wednesday (Sept 20).
WHAT THEY SAY:
“One down and one more to go! I call upon all our fans to come and support us against Indonesia in the Class 10 final league match. I am confident we can achieve our target of two gold medals.” – SHAMSUL AZHA MAT YUSOFF (Malaysian team manager)
