Ziyad delivers Malaysia's first gold in Solo

SOLO (Indonesia): Ace Paralympian Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli fulfilled predictions when he delivered Malaysia's first gold medal at the 11th Asean Para Games (APG) here this morning.

The 32-year-old athlete maintained his dominance with an energetic display to emerge champion of the F20 (intellectual impairment) shot put event at the Manahan Stadium here.

The 2016 Rio Paralympic Games gold medalist and two-time world champion (2013, 2017), confirmed the gold with a throw of 16.92 meters (m) in the first attempt.

He continued to be consistent by recording 16.80m, 16.88m, 16.63m, 16.78m and 16.74m with his further attempts to win the event.

This is Muhammad Ziyad's fourth gold in a row at the APG since the 2013 edition in Myanmar, besides also winning a silver and two bronze medals at the SEA Games.

In his last showing at APG 2017 Kuala Lumpur, Muhammad Ziyad won the gold with a throw of 16.81m.

Malaysia also managed a silver when Mohamad Aliff Mohamad Awi completed his hattrick of APG silver medals in the event since 2015 with a throw of 13.46m.

-- BERNAMA