Mohamad Zikri, Nur Jannaton Best Athletes of Para Sukma 2022

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 (Bernama) -- Field athlete Mohamad Zikri Zakaria and compound archer Nur Jannaton Abdul Jalil were crowned Best Male and Female Athletes of the Malaysia Para Games (Para Sukma) 2022 respectively at the closing ceremony tonight.

Mohamad Zikri, of Perak, broke the Games’ records en route to winning three gold medals in the discus, javelin and shot put F55 (wheelchair) category.

The 23-year-old set a new discus record with a heave of 22.75 metres (m) to surpass the old mark of 18.45m, a javelin record with a 20.97m throw (old mark: 18.26m) and a shot put record with a distance of 9.61m (7.26m).

His shot put achievement placed him second in Asia, as well as fourth in the two other events, thus making him a podium contender at the Hangzhou Asian Games in China and a potential champion at the ASEAN Para Games (APG) in Cambodia next year.

Best Female para athlete Nur Jannaton, 27, of Perak, also won three golds in the 50m individual archery event, the Individual Olympic Round and the 50m mixed team compound with Zafi Rahman Mat Saleh.

Nur Jannaton’s excellent displays placed her on the list of the 25 best para archers in the world and among the top five in Asia for the women's compound events.

Meanwhile, Sabah were officially crowned overall champions for the first time after winning a haul of 54 gold, 36 silver and 35 bronze medals at the 20th edition of the six-day Para Sukma, which began on Tuesday (Nov 1).

It was a reverse of fortunes as defending champions Sarawak had to settle for second place with a haul of 50-47-49, followed by Johor in third place with 38 gold, 30 silver and 25 bronze.

At the last edition in Perak in 2018, Sarawak collected 61 gold, 62 silver and 60 bronze medals, while Sabah finished in second place (36-28-30).

Sarawak however, will remain the most successful contingent in Para Sukma, having emerged overall champions 13 times in a row.

A total of 1,315 athletes from 15 contingents competed for 290 gold medals offered in 10 sports - boccia, swimming, badminton, chess, lawn bowls, archery, athletics, table-tennis, powerlifting and tenpin bowling.

Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker officiated the closing ceremony and also present were National Sports Council (NSC) director-general Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail, Paralympic Council of Malaysia (MPM) president Datuk Seri Megat D. Shahriman Zaharuddin and the founder and president of the Persatuan OKU Sentral Senator Datuk Ras Adiba Radzi.

-- BERNAMA