M’sian Paralympians Fall Short Of Paris 2024 Target, Eye LA28 Redemption

From Amiril Muttaqien Meketar

PARIS, Sept 9 (Bernama) -- Malaysian para-athletes have, so far, produced excellent performances, including bringing home three gold medals at each of the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo editions of the Paralympic Games.

Based on these outstanding achievements, the Paralympic Council of Malaysia (PCM) were bold enough to set a lofty target of four gold medals at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.

Unfortunately, the national Paralympic contingent fell short of the target when they could only bag two golds, two silvers and a bronze as the curtain came down on the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games at the Stade de France here last night.

PCM’s confidence that Malaysia could achieve four gold medals was shattered, resulting in the reputation of the national contingent, comprising 30 para-athletes competing in eight sports, being slightly tarnished.

What is even more painful is that the two silver medals at Paris 2024 were delivered by the two main gold medal hopes - Datuk Abdul Latif Romly in the men’s long jump T20 (intellectual impairment) event and Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli in the men’s shot put F20 (intellectual impairment) category.

The four medals Malaysia bagged this time were all delivered by familiar faces, with the two golds coming from para shuttler Cheah Liek Hou in the men’ singles SU5 (physical impairment) category and powerlifting ace Bonnie Bunyau Gustin.

This shows that the Malaysian contingent still relies on experienced athletes to bring home the medals and raises the question of whether the new athletes or their replacements are able to take over the challenge from their seniors in the future.

This is because, of the 18 newcomers, only Eddy Bernard managed to bring home a medal - a bronze in the men’s 100-metre (m) T44 (physical impairment) category.

Although Liek Hou, 36, and Muhammad Ziyad, 34, intend to compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics (LA28), can they still be a force to be reckoned with in four years’ time?

For example, not only does Muhammad Ziyad have to contend with Ukraine’s 25-year-old Oleksandr Yarovyi, who won gold at Paris 2024, but the Malaysian can also expect a stiffer challenge from another Ukrainian, Maksym Koval, who holds the world record with a throw of 17.57m, should he decide to compete at LA28 after having to settle for bronze here.

Similarly, Abdul Latif can’t afford to underestimate Matvei Iakushev who, competing under the Neutral Paralympics Athletes (NPA) banner, denied him a hat-trick of gold medals in the long jump T20 category with a final leap of 7.51m at the Stade de France.

Abdul Latif, of Kangar, must also steer clear of injuries, like the left abdominal muscle injury that hampered his chances of winning gold at Paris 2024, if he wants to stand at the top of the podium at LA28.

Attention must also be given to strengthening training programmes for athletes like Eddy and Muhammad Ammar Aiman Nor Azmi, who have the potential to excel in future Paralympics.

Eddy shone in his maiden Paralympics by bagging the bronze while Muhammad Ammar Aiman just missed out on a bronze in the men’s 400m T20 (intellectual impairment) category when he finished fourth after being pipped at the last moment by Yovanni Philippe of Mauritius.

Bonnie, meanwhile, deserves to be hailed as Malaysia’s best athlete at Paris 2024. Not only did he overcome a left shoulder injury to bag gold with a 232kg lift, but he also broke his own world record of 231kg set at the 2023 World Para Powerlifting Championships in Dubai.

As he is only 25, he could well be the country’s best gold medal prospect at LA28, provided he continues to strive for improvement.

Unfortunately for Malaysia, powerlifters Jong Yee Khie and Nicodemus Manggoi Moses could not follow in the Sarawakian's footsteps.

A chest injury denied Yee Khie, a silver medallist in the men’s 107kg event at Tokyo 2020, the chance to get back on the podium here in Paris after he could only finish seventh with a lift of 208kg.

Nicodemus, meanwhile, ended his maiden Paralympic campaign also in seventh position in the men’s 97kg event by lifting 210kg in his first attempt while his next two attempts of 220kg were not successful.  

As for the para-badminton camp, Liek Hou is still a formidable force despite his age while the unseeded Muhammad Fareez Anuar also caught the eye with some inspiring performances en route to topping Group B, including a stunning 21-14, 21-1 victory over second seed Fang Jen-Yu of Taiwan.

Although he missed out on the bronze after losing 21-17, 19-21, 12-21 to Indonesia’s Dheva Anrimusthi, Muhammad Fareez showed that he has the potential to be groomed into a great shuttler.

World number three Muhammad Ikhwan Ramli, however, failed to live up to expectations when he crashed out at the group stage in both the men’s singles WH1 (physical impairment) and men’s doubles (with Noor Azwan Noorlan) WH1-2 categories.

The absence of former BC1 silver medallist Chew Wei Lun, who retired earlier, was felt by the national boccia camp when their three new players - Noor Askuzaimey Mat Salim, Abdul Razzaq Abdul Rahman and Lee Chee Hoong - failed to get among the medals at the South Paris Arena 1. 

Of the three new faces, Noor Askuzaimey deserves praise for her fighting spirit as she managed to clear the group stage before going down 7-1 to Colombia’s Leidy Chica Chica in the women’s individual BC4 (physical impairment) bronze medal playoff.

National para-recurve archer S. Suresh’s inconsistent form since becoming world champion in 2019 continued to haunt him as he crashed out early at the Paralympics for the second consecutive time. This time he lost 6-2 to Iran’s Mohammad Reza Arab Ameri in the 1/8 men’s Open elimination round at the Invalides.

National compound archers G. Daneshen (man) and Nur Jannaton Abdul Jalil (woman) did not fare any better, crashing out at the 1/16 elimination round.

Despite his early exit, Suresh can take pride in shooting 625 points in the ranking round to improve on his season-best of 596 points set at the Para Archery World Ranking tournament in the Czech Republic in June while Nur Jannaton scored 649 points to surpass her previous record of 615 points set at the Fazza Para Archery World Ranking Tournament in Dubai in March.

Of the six riders fielded by the national para-cycling team, Mohamad Yusof Hafizi Shaharuddin stood out when he emerged as the best Asian cyclist in the road race after coming in fifth in the men’s individual time trial C1 (physical impairment), finishing ahead of China’s two-time track cycling gold medallist Li Zhangyu.

Para-swimmer Muhammad Nur Syaiful Zulkafli’s second Paralympic outing was quite commendable compared to his Tokyo 2020 debut as he qualified for three finals at the Paris La Defense Arena, including clocking a new personal best of 1 minute 45.15 seconds (s) during the heats in his pet event, the men’s 100m breaststroke SB4 (physical impairment), to improve on his old mark of 1:46.78s that he set en route to winning gold at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Para Games.

National para-swimmer Muhammad Imaan Aiman Muhammad Redzuan was a bundle of nerves in his Paralympic debut and that led to him finishing last overall in the men's 100m backstroke S14 (intellectual impairment) with a time of 1:04.58s.

In wheelchair tennis, the experienced Abu Samah Borhan and newcomer Muhammad Yusshazwan Yusoff failed to shine at the iconic Stade Roland Garros as they crashed out in the opening round of the men’s singles event and went down 2-6, 3-6 to fifth-seeded Spaniards Daniel Caverzaschi-Martin De La Puente in the second round of the men’s doubles event. 

The Malaysian contingent must learn from their failure to meet the four-gold target and come back stronger at LA28. For now, it’s au revoir (goodbye) Paris 2024!

-- BERNAMA