EVER since the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games began last week, the Malaysian contingent has had to deal with quite a packed schedule as their extraordinary athletes competed against some of the world’s best to bring glory to the country.
However, tomorrow should be a calmer day for the national contingent, with para swimmer Muhammad Nur Syaful Zulkafli being the country’s sole representative when he competes in the men’s 50-metre (m) freestyle S5 (physical impairment) event at the Paris La Defence Arena.
This will also be Muhammad Nur Syaiful’s final event, having competed in three others so far, namely the 200m freestyle S5, 100m freestyle S5 and 100m breaststroke SB4 (physical impairment).
Of the three events, the Sarawak swimmer made it to two finals, finishing sixth in both the 100m freestyle S5 in 1 minute and 16.60 seconds (s) and the 100m breaststroke SB4 in 1:46.71s.
It is hoped that his success in making the two finals will spur the 29-year-old to aim for another final in the 50m freestyle, which he will start by competing in Heat 2, with only the eight fastest swimmers from the two heats advancing to the final.
This is familiar territory for Muhammad Nur Syaiful, having made the 50m freestyle S5 final in his maiden Paralympic appearance in Tokyo 2020 where he ended up fifth in 32.82s.
Then again, even if he qualifies for the final tomorrow, he is not expected to fight for a podium finish as he is currently ranked eighth best in the world with a time of 34.58s, which he set at a meet in Limoges, France in June.
Meanwhile, it was all doom and gloom for national para archer S. Suresh when he lost 6-2 to Iranian ace Mohammad Reza Arab Ameri to crash out in the 1/8 elimination round of the men’s recurve event at the Invalides.
But it was still an improvement compared to his debut at Tokyo 2020, where he crashed out at the 1/16 elimination round after losing 6-2 to Russian Paralympic Committee representative Bato Tsydendorzhiev.
National road race para cyclist Mohamad Yusof Hafizi Shaharuddin, meanwhile, produced an energetic performance to finish fifth out of 10 riders in the men’s individual time trial C1 (physical impairment) category today.
Although he was out of the medals, his time of 22 minutes and 27.91 seconds (s) at the Clichy-sous-Bois saw him emerge as the best rider from Asia, brushing aside China’s Li Zhangyu, who recently won gold in the men’s 3,000m individual pursuit C1 and the men’s 1,000m time trial C1-3 (physical impairment) track events.
Zhangyu could only finish ninth in the men’s individual time trial C1 in 24:50.93s today.
