A scintillating performance by gymnastics queen Farah Ann Abdul Hadi at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum added glitter to Malaysia’s seven-gold haul on the third day of the 30th SEA Games yesterday.
The medals galore brought Malaysia’s tally to 18 golds, five silvers and 14 bronzes but did not change their overall standing at third place.
Apart from the seven golds, Malaysia also collected two silvers, through Tan Ing Yueh in women’s vault of artistic gymnastics and ice skater Anja Chong in the women’s 500m short track speed.
The national contingent also netted five bronzes, through artistic gymnastics (men’s floor exercise and women’s uneven bars), wushu (men’s sanda 54kg), squash men’s singles and women’s 500m short track speed in ice skating.
Hosts the Philippines consolidated their lead in the medal tally with 47 golds, 31 silvers and 17 bronzes while Vietnam remained in the second spot with 23 gold, 27 silver and 25 bronze medals.
Malaysia’s first gold of the day came from Yeoh Li Tian in the men’s Rapid Chess when he collected the highest points after nine rounds of contest at the Travelers Hotel, Subic.
Elite bowler Timmy Tan was also outstanding when he knocked down 1,334 pins to claim the men’s singles title at the Starmall Edsa Shopping Centre in Manila, followed by gymnast Tan Fu Jie’s triumph in men’s pommel horse with a score of 13.967 points.
Rachel Arnold beat Chan Yiwen 11-9, 11-7, 11-3 in an all-Malaysian women’s squash final at the Manila Polo Club.
Farah Ann, who won the individual all-around title yesterday, grabbed the gold in women’s uneven bars with a score of 12.367 points before the ice skating quartet of Kynie Chan, Ashley Chin, Anja Chong and Dione Tan reigned supreme in the women’s 3000m relay short track speed at the SM Megamall Shopping Centre in Manila.
Muhammad Addeen Idrakie Bahtiar completed Malaysia’s gold collection when he beat Robert Andrew Garcia of the Philippines 11-7, 3-11, 11-9, 11-5 in the men’s squash final.
Amidst the cheers, misfortune struck the Malaysian camp when men’s silat exponent Muhammad Faizul M Nasir was injured in his match and had to be admitted to The Medical City in Clark.
The 2018 Asian Games silver medallist was knocked unconscious by Dines Dumaan of the Philippines in the Men’s Class B (50-55kg) bout at the Subic Convention and Exhibition Centre but his condition was reported to be stable now.
The Malaysian contingent will continue their hunt for gold on the fourth day tomorrow in badminton, artistic gymnastics, lawn bowls, obstacle sport and sailing.
- Bernama
