24-hour Drama Ends, T12 100m Gold Stays With Malaysia
From Farah Najihah Zuraimi
NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Jan 22 (Bernama) -- After 24 hours of uncertainty due to a technical issue by the organisers, Malaysia’s para athletics camp finally breathed a sigh of relief when the men’s T12 100 metres gold medal at the Thailand 2025 ASEAN Para Games (APG) was confirmed to remain with the country.
National athlete Muhamad Afiq Mohamad Ali Hanafiah emerged champion with a time of 11.26 seconds (s), beating host representative Kissanapong Tisuwan (11.52s), while teammate Muhammad Noorhelmie Mohd Rabi claimed bronze with 11.53s.
Team manager S. Arasu said the ‘drama’ arose when a Singaporean athlete, James Ethan, was unaware of his qualification for the final after his name was not displayed on the official list by the organisers, causing him to miss competing alongside the other finalists yesterday.
The mistake prompted Singapore to lodge an official protest, which was eventually accepted on technical grounds, allowing the athlete to run a solo timed race today.
However, the 11.99s recorded by the Singaporean athlete did not surpass Muhamad Afiq’s time, thereby confirming that the final results remained valid and the gold medal stayed with Malaysia.
“It was exactly 24 hours because the organisers themselves did not display his qualification, as the list of qualified athletes should have been shown.
“That was why Singapore requested that he be allowed to run today. So we allowed him to run and are thankful that his time could not beat ours. Therefore, our result remains unchanged and the gold medal still belongs to Malaysia,” he told Bernama.
Para athletics has emerged as the biggest medal contributor so far, collecting 11 gold, eight silver and 14 bronze medals.
Adding to the joy, the national para swimming squad finally broke their gold medal drought today when Rusdianto Rusmadi delivered the team’s maiden gold from the pool in the men’s 50m butterfly S8 category.
Rusdianto clocked 30.54s in the final to defeat two Vietnamese swimmers, Huynh Anh Khoa, who won silver (31.26s), and Quang Thoai Han, who took bronze (33.41s).
So far, the national para swimming squad have amassed eight silver and 11 bronze medals, with Rusdianto’s gold remaining the sole top contribution from the pool, although opportunities remain wide open to add to the medal tally until this Sunday.
As of tonight, Malaysia are in third place among nine competing nations with a total of 70 medals (18 gold, 21 silver, 31 bronze).
Thailand continue to dominate the medal standings at the top with 179 medals (69-59-51), while Indonesia are second with 106 medals (40-38-28).
The national contingent is targeting a total of 181 medals, including 55 golds, at the Games, which opened on Tuesday (Jan 20) and will conclude next Monday (Jan 26).
— BERNAMA
