INDONESIA swimmers hogged the limelight on Day 2 (Sept 18) of the ASEAN Para Games by grabbing 11 out of 20 gold medals on offer at the National Aquatics Centre in Bukit Jalil.
The Indonesians also splashed their way to four silvers and four bronze medals while Vietnam grabbed four gold medals followed by Thailand and Myanmar two each and Singapore one.
Malaysian swimmers, however, picked four silvers and two bronze medals.
The silvers came through Zadrian Chan Zhi Wen – (200m freestyle – S14), Julius Jarading (50m breastroke – SB13), Anderson Anak Jamba (50m breastroke – SB3) and Carmen Lim (women’s 100m freestyle – S8) while Mohd Adib Iqbal Abdullah (men’s 50m breastroke – SB14) and Puteri Nur Diyana Jawahir (50m breastroke – SB14) earned the bronze.
Musa Mandan Karuba, 21-year-old, won Indonesia’s first gold on Monday (Sept 18) in the men’s 100m freestyle (S10) and then led the 4x100m freestyle relay team to the gold.
The Indonesian contingent, who arrived here targeting 107 gold medals, picked nine more gold medals through Kevin Ode Natama (men’s 200m freestyle (S14), Marinus Melianus (50m breaststroke (SB13), Irfan Septiana (50m breastroke (SB14), Aris Wibawa (50m breastroke (SB7) and Guntur 50m breastroke (SB8).
In the women’s division, Sapia Rumbaru (100m freestyle (S10), Syuci Indriani (100m freestyle (S14), Laura Aurelia Dind (100m freestyle (S6) and Lince Suebu (50m breastroke (SB14) won gold medals.
Wei Soong won Singapore’s first gold medal in the 9th ASEAN Para Games. The 19-year-old Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) student clocked 1 minute 7.53 seconds to win the 100m (S7) freestyle race, ahead of Thailand’s Kaweewat Sittichaiphonniti (1:14.89) and Indonesia’s Suriansyah (1:17.31).
“I am satisfied with my performance. I felt that I have done my best. I went up against some challenging opponents and I’m grateful for the opportunity to be here and compete,” he said.
Toh won three gold medals at the last ASEAN Para Games in Singapore, but in the S8 class. The lower the number, the more severe is the disability.
