SOLO (Indonesia): The Malaysian contingent to the 11th ASEAN Para Games (APG) here have surpassed their target of 16 gold medals by winning 18 gold as of this afternoon on the fourth day of the Games.

The much-awaited 16th gold came through experienced swimmer Fraidden Dawan, who emerged as the champion of the S10 100m butterfly event (phsyical disability) category by clocking one minute and 16.640 seconds at the Jatidiri Swimming Centre, Semarang, approximately 100km from here.

Host swimmer Rahmat Tulloh (1:16.640s) took silver, while Thailand's Phasit Phukhamkhom (1:18.350s), who finished in third place, had to go home empty-handed as only three competitors competed in the event.

"I am very happy and proud to get Malaysia's 16th gold medal and my second personal gold medal at the APG this time. So far I am satisfied with my achievements here, which have been consistent, and tomorrow I hope to win the 200m medley with a new record," Fraidden said.

Earlier, Ethan Yin Jun Khoo had won gold in the S14 men's 100m freestyle (intellectual impairment) category in a record time of 56.690s, beating Thai swimmer Wachirawit In-Choo (57.780s) and Darren Chan Wei Siang of Singapore (1:00.270s).



APG-TARGET 2 (LAST) SOLO



The previous APG record of 59.79s belonged to Anas Zul Amirul Sidi of Malaysia who set it at the Kuala Lumpur edition in 2017.

Ethan then went on to display another energetic performance to win the gold in the men's 200m individual medley SM14 with a new championship record of 2:27.230s, bettering the 2:32.39s set by Muhammad Samsi from Indonesia in APG 2017 .

Malaysia also won the silver medal in the event when Mohd Adib Iqbal Abdullah (2:28.480s) finished in second place, while Daniel Nugroho Wijayanto (2:36.620s) from Indonesia completed the podium.

The swimming squad continued their excellent run when Muhd Imaan Aiman Muhd Redzuan won gold in the S14 men's 100m butterfly with a new Games record of 1:00.340s. The previous record of 1:07.61s was set by Daniel Nugruho Wijayanto of Indonesia at the 2015 Singapore Games.

Daniel Nugroho Wijayanto (1:05.660s) and compatriot Aldi Tri Septian (1:05.490s), won the silver and bronze respectively.

Meanwhile, Malaysia's chef-de-mission (CDM) Col (Rtd) Md Nor Azam Ariffin congratulated and thanked all the athletes, coaches and team managers to Solo for their hard work in not only achieving the target but exceeding it by winning 18 gold by this afternoon. .

"We still have hopes of gold medals in archery, badminton and swimming after this. Anything we get after this is a bonus," he said.

-- BERNAMA