SARAWAK COUNTING DOWN TO WREST PARA SUKMA CROWN FROM SABAH

KUCHING, Sept 26 (Bernama) -- Host Sarawak are getting tantalisingly closer to wresting the overall Malaysia Para Games (Para SUKMA) title from Sabah, after leading the medal standings for the 2024 edition, as of today.

With two days left before the curtains fall on the biennial games this Saturday, Sarawak who have collected 71 gold, 49 silver and 61 bronze so far, only need about 12 more gold to reach the target of 83 gold medals this time.

Nearly past the post, the achievement so far has left Sabah trailing a distant second with 55 gold, 37 silver and 25 bronze while Selangor have a 26-38-34 tally as the third-best out of 15 contingents competing this time.

The Bumi Kenyalang (Land of Hornbills) contingent have a history of dominance in Para SUKMA, finishing overall champions 13 times in a row from the 1994 edition in Johor to 2018 in Perak.

As many as 50 more gold are still up for grabs for the athletes with badminton about to reach the climax with 12 gold medals and chess also offering the same number of medals.

In addition, track and field will soon close its competition at the Sarawak Stadium with eight gold medals followed by powerlifting (six), archery (five), table-tennis (four), bowling (two) and lawn bowling (one).

Meanwhile, four national records were broken today with Sabah swimmer Shahafiq Abdullah showing an excellent streak at the Pandelela Rinong Swimming Aquatic Centre when he renewed two national records, including when he won the final of the 50 metre (m) men's freestyle S6 (physical disability).

Sabah athlete Jericho Hedryld Harry stole the spotlight by breaking the 14-year-old men's javelin national record F46 (physical disability) held by Johor's representative, Mohd Iskandar Zainuddin.

Jericho, who lost his left hand in a motorcycle accident four years ago, confirmed the gold with a record of 36.83m to surpass the old record of 35.26m by Mohd Iskandar.

National powerlifter Azlan Mos of Sarawak came out fiercely to renew the national and Para SUKMA record with the best lift of 171 kg to win the men's under-65kg gold.

More interestingly, the athlete from Sebuyau erased the old record held by national powerlifting champion Bonnie Bunyau Gustin, which was 170kg in the 2018 edition in Perak and grabbed the second gold for a total lift of 465kg.

-- BERNAMA