Gloomy day for national contingent on Day Six

The two athletes in action in the weightlifting and athletics finals today failed to deliver the goods for Malaysia, whose medal tally remains at three golds, two silvers and three bronzes.

Muhammad Hafiz Shamsuddin could not repeat the excellent performances of his weightlifting compatriots when he could only finish 10th out of 11 participants in the men's 109-kilogramme (kg) category.

The weightlifting competition, which ends today, sees the national team end their Birmingham challenge with a haul of two golds and one silver, thus surpassing their two golds and one bronze achievement at the 2018 edition in Gold Coast, Australia.

Over at the Alexander Stadium, national high jumper Nauraj Singh Randhawa suffered the ignominy of finishing last after becoming the first out of the field of 13 participants to bow out in the men's final.

Malaysia's swimming squad, meanwhile, ended their campaign here without a medal when Arvin Shaun Singh Chahal, their only representative on the last day of competition in the pool, failed to be among the top eight finalists in the men's 200-metre (m) individual medley event.

At the end of Day Six, Australia continued to rule supreme atop the medal standings with 46 golds, 38 silvers and 39 bronzes, with England (38-37-28) second and Canada (16-20-21) overtaking New Zealand in third place.

On Day Seven (Aug 4), the national contingent will be banking on powerlifting ace Bonnie Bunyau Gustin to make history by delivering Malaysia's first-ever gold in the event at the quadrennial Games.

At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games last year, Bonnie created history when he became the first Malaysian athlete to win gold at the Paralympics after emerging triumphant in the 72kg category with a 228kg total lift for a Games record.

Bonnie, who hails from Sarawak, is the world record holder in the same category with a total lift of 230kg.

All eyes will also be on national diving queen Datuk Pandelela Rinong Pamg when she competes in the women's 10m platform individual qualifiers.