WINNING GOLD AND SMASHING GAMES RECORD FAILS TO WHET JONAH'S APPETITE, EAGER TO SURPASS 19M MARK

By Ahmad Nazrin Syahmi Mohamad Arif

BANGKOK, Dec 13 (Bernama) -- Men's shot put gold medallist at the 2025 Thailand SEA Games, Jonah Chang Rigan, admitted to having mixed feelings despite successfully breaking both the Games and national records during his brilliant performance at the Suphachalasai Stadium here tonight.

The Sarawak-born athlete said that achieving the gold medal and breaking both records was indeed his main target, but his failure to surpass the 19-metre (m) distance meant he was not completely satisfied with his performance.

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According to Jonah, the failure to reach the 19m mark was not due to fitness factors, but rather due to technical aspects that still needed improvement.

"I am grateful that I managed to set the SEA Games and national records; that was definitely the main target, but I couldn't reach the second target, which was the 19m distance. I feel happy and sad at the same time.

"In today's final, I felt my body was good, but my technique was a bit poor. I tried to enter (to make the throw) faster and more intense, but my body movement did not turn out the way I had planned," he said when met after the final here.

In today's competition, Jonah confirmed the gold medal after registering a throw of 18.78m in his third attempt, thus erasing the Games record of 18.38m held by Filipino athlete William III Edward Morrison, which was set in the 2019 edition in the Philippines.

The distance achieved by Jonah who is making his second appearance at the SEA Games, also broke his own national record of 18.46m, which was set at the Pahang Open Athletics Championship last year.

The silver medal in the event was won by Silamool Thongchai from the host nation with a throw of 16.80m, while the bronze went to Morrison.

Jonah’s gold medal success saw the 22-year-old athlete improve on his fourth-place finish during his SEA Games debut in Cambodia two years ago.

Meanwhile, commenting on his next plan, Jonah said his main focus now is to improve his performance level to face bigger challenges, including hunting for a medal at the 2026 Asian Games, which he believes requires a throw of around 19.50m.

"For next year, I need to focus more on training; everything needs to be more serious," he said.

For the record, the gold won by Jonah also ended a long drought for the national athletics camp in the men's shot put event, with Malaysia last winning gold more than three decades ago.

-- BERNAMA