Our Athletes Finish Third Overall In Indonesia

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia finished third in the overall medal tally in the recently-concluded Asean Schools Games in Surabaya, Indonesia, with a total haul of 29 golds, 36 silvers and 35 bronzes.

Thailand finished top with a haul of 38-28-47 while hosts Indonesia were second with 33 golds.

Athletics, despite all the doping problems faced by the Malaysian Athletic Union (MAU), delivered the bulk of the medals – 14 golds, 11 silvers and 10 bronzes.

M. Saranraj Siva was the stand-out performer among the boys with three golds – in the 1,500m, 5,000m and 2,000m steeplechase – while Noor Shahidatun Nadia won two golds in the girls’ long jump and triple jump.

The other gold medallist were Ali Ashraf Razali (boys’ 110m hurdles), Michael Sia Sung Dak (boys’ hammer), Mohd Azly Ghazali (boys’ high jump), V. Jeventireen (boys’ 800m), D. Eswaran Rajan (boys’ 5,000m walk), Mohd Firdaus Mazalan (boys’ 400m hurdles), Valerie Tan (girls’ pole vault), Elena Goh (girls’ 3,000m walk) and Nur Ama­nina Bintitugimin (girls’ 100m hurdles).

National swimmers Vernon Lee and Ian James Barr also contributed two golds each while SEA Games gold medallist Christina Loh won the girls’ 100m breaststroke.

Malaysia also clinched five out of the six golds at stake in rhythmic gymnastics, with national ace Amy Kwan bagging four, including the team event.

Fatin Zakirah Jalany won the individual all-around event ahead of team-mate Au Wei Ran.

It was, however, a disappointing outing for SEA Games double silver medallist Farah Ann Hadi in artistic gymnastics as she only managed two silvers in the uneven bars and floor exercise.

Malaysia also picked up two golds from badminton, and one each from tennis, sepaktakraw and pencak silat.