Sarawak-born Bonnie (right) speaks with Malaysian officials in this Bernama file photo.
TOKYO, Aug 24: Five years ago, three Malaysian athletes made history when they brought home three gold medals from the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games.
It was the first time Malaysia had experienced the glitter of gold since participating in the Games in the 1972 edition in Heidelberg, Germany. The three gold and one bronze in Rio was the country’s best ever performance.
The three gold medallists were Mohamad Ridzuan Mohamad Puzi who won the gold in the 100m T36 (celebral palsy) sprint, Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli in the T20 shot put (learning disabilities) and Abdul Latif Romly in the T20 long jump.
Their success also opened the eyes of local sports fans to the ability of these extraordinary athletes to make Malaysia famous globally.
Following their success in Brazil, the national paralympic squad continued to record more feats in various international tournaments, with athletes from other sports now also wanting to prove their gold medal potential when the Tokyo 2020 Parlaympic Games gets underway on today.
For this edition, 22 Malaysian paralympians will take up the challenge in nine sports.
Mohamad Ridzuan, Muhammad Ziyad, and Abdul Latif will fight to defend their gold, but three other athletes – Bonnie Bunyau Gustin (powerlifting), S. Suresh (archery) and Cheah Liek Hou (badminton) – are also expected to excel.
Sarawak-born Bonnie is in Tokyo with a reputation as a record holder and world champion in the men’s category of over 72 kg while Suresh was the 2019 world champion in the men’s recurve open event.
Six-time world champion Liek Hou, who will compete in the men’s singles in the SU5 category, has the opportunity to make history by becoming one of the first shuttlers to win a medal as badminton is making its debut in the Games this time.
The Malaysian squad is also looking to other lesser known athletes to spring surprises.
The cycling squad have bronze medallist in the C1 men’s 15km scratch race at the UCI 2020 World Track Cycling Championships in Canada, Mohamad Yusof Hafizi Shaharuddin, who will race in the 3,000m, team sprint, individual time trial and highway events.
Other cyclists in Tokyo are 2018 Asian Para Games C5 category highway race gold medallist Zuhairie Ahmad Tarmizi, Muhammad Hafiz Jamali in the 1000m C5 time trial as well as Nur Azlia Syafinaz Mohd Zais and her helmsman, Nurul Suhada Zainal, in the highway and category B time trial.
Meanwhile, the only female representative in the athletics squad Siti Nooriasah Mohamad Ariffin will run in the 400m T20 event while Jong Yee Khie (powerlifting) and Abu Samah Borhan (wheelchair tennis) are eager to improve on their performance in their second appearance in the Paralympic Games after failing to finish on the podium in Rio 2016.
The national squad is rounded up by Wong Kar Gee (long jump T13); Didin Taresoh (badminton SH6); Chew Wei Lun (boccia BC1); Chee Chao Ming (table tennis T9); Wiro Julin (archery) and three para swimmers – Muhammad Nur Syaiful Zulkafli and Jamery Siga (S5 category) and Brenda Anellia Larry (S4).
A total of 4,400 athletes from 160 countries will be competing in 22 sports at this year’s Paralympic Games. The opening ceremony is scheduled at 7pm (Malaysian time) at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium on Tuesday. — Bernama