Fadhil Yunus
Brunei Darussalam produced a golden showing during the 12th ASEAN Para Games after winning two gold medals in para athletics yesterday.
The nation earned their first gold medal this year through Nor Hensan binti Haji Mataha in the women’s shot put (F11) at the Morodok Techo National Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The national para athlete recorded a distance of 7.00 metres (m) to win gold ahead of silver medallist Indonesia’s Ratnaningsih and bronze medallist Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Chin.
Ratnaningsih and Nguyen completed the podium with distances of 6.81m and 6.10m.
Brunei’s wait for a second gold medal did not come long as Mohd Raduan bin Haji Mataha triumphed the men’s shot put (F11) event in style with a mark of 7.75m.
He bested a field which included home favourite Sambath Samban who had to settle for silver with a total of 5.16 points and Tha Phannit Phannit who managed a score of 5.14 points. The country opened their medal tally with a bronze medal contributed by seasoned para athlete Shari bin Haji Juma’at in the men’s discus (F55) event on Monday.
This marks the first time since the 2017 edition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where Brunei achieved two gold medals in a single appearance. The country’s last participation was in Surakarta, Indonesia last year where they achieved one gold and three bronze.
