TOKYO: National boccia athlete Chew Wei Lun, who won the silver medal today, brought some cheer back into the Malaysian contingent on the eighth day of the Tokyo Paralympic Games here, following yesterday's doom and gloom.

The world number 11's first Paralympic appearance competing in the BC1 (physical disability) mixed individual event was nothing short of impressive, as he narrowly lost 2-4 to defending champion from Great Britain, David Smith, in the final at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre.

The 26-year-old athlete from Johor had recorded six consecutive wins in the campaign, including four in group B, before he was defeated by David.

He said the achievement was very meaningful, because he and his team managed to pique Malaysians' interest and raise awareness about the sport.

Wei Lun helped Malaysia increase its silver medal tally to two, after powerlifting athlete Jong Yee Khie grabbed the first one in the men's 107kg category on Monday, while Bonnie Bunyau Gustin, who competed in the men's 72kg (kg) category, won the first gold last Saturday.

Wei Lun's success has given Malaysians something to cheer about after Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli was denied the gold medal in the men's F20 shot put (intellectual disability) despite his amazing throw of 17.94 metres (m) which also beat the world record.

He was disqualified due to technical grounds as he was classified as 'Did Not Start' (DNS) following protests lodged by the Ukrainian team who claimed he was late in reporting himself at the call room before the competition took place.

The controversy saw Ukrainian athlete Maksym Koval announced as the gold medalist with a throw of 17.34m, thus breaking Muhammad Ziyad's previous world record of 17.29m at the 2017 World Paralympic Championships in London.

Besides Muhammad Ziyad, Australian athlete Todd Hodgets and Jordi Patricio Congo Villalba from Ecuador are also classified as DNS.

Unhappy with the decision, the contingents from Malaysia, Australia and Ecuador, launched a counter-protest to the competition's technical committee.

However, the World Para Athletics (WPA) in a statement today said it had rejected the appeals from the three countries.

It said the decision was based on World Para Athletics Rule 5.5 - 'Failure to Report to the Call Room' which stated that in case athletes are not present in the call room at the relevant time as published in the Call Room schedule they will be shown in the results as DNS.

Meanwhile, national swimmer Muhammad Nur Syaiful Zulkafli, described his debut in the Paralympic Games as a successful outing, with his fifth-placed finish in the S5 (physical disability) men's 50m freestyle event as the best in his career so far.

He managed to break his previous personal record of 33.20s set at a tournament in London in 2019, with a time of 32.82s.

Meanwhile, the first day of badminton at the Yoyogi National Stadium saw six-time world champion Cheah Liek Hou seal an easy victory over Egypt's Eldakrory Ahmed Magdy Amin.

The world number two took just 15 minutes to overcome Eldakrory, 21-3, 21-2 in a Group B action in the SU5 (physical disability) men's singles category.

The 33-year-old will continue his challenge against Taiwanese Jen Yu Fang tomorrow.

-- BERNAMA