03/09/2024

TUESDAY | SEP 3, 2024

31

SPORTS

Noor Askuzaimey fails in bid to win bronze

MEDAL TALLY G S B PARIS PARALYMPICS 2024 STATE

NATIONAL player Noor Askuzaimey Mat Salim’s hope of delivering the first medal for Malaysia at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games was dashed after being outplayed by Colombia’s Leidy Chica Chica 7-1 in the bronze medal playoff of the women’s individual BC4 (physical impairment) category yesterday. The world No. 1 Colombian dominated the proceedings at the South Paris Arena 1 for a boccia

BRIEFS Fernando shatters Kar Gee’s medal hopes THE first jump by national para athlete Jonathan Wong Kar Gee provided a ray of hope for the Malaysian athletics contingent that he would be able to secure at least a bronze in the men’s T12 long jump (physical disability) event at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games yesterday. However, Argentine Fernando Vazquez’s final jump of 6.88m shattered his hopes of taking home a medal, surpassing the 6.85m mark of Kar Gee’s first attempt on the fourth day of athletics competition at the Stade de France. The 33-year-old repeated his jump of 6.85m on his sixth and final attempt but the mark was only good to finish fourth overall out of six competitors as the gold medal went to Azerbaijan’s Said Najafzade, who jumped 7.27m, followed by Uzbekistan’s Donior IT’S the end of the road for the national combination of Muhammad Yusshazwan Yusoff-Abu Samah Borhan as they exit the 2024 Paris Paralympics after crashing out in the second round of the men’s doubles after losing 2-6, 3-6 to fifth seeds Daniel Caverzaschi-Martin De La Puente of Spain at Stade Roland Garros. Although the Malaysians threatened a fightback in the second set by taking a 3-0 lead, the Spaniards stepped up a gear to storm into the quarterfinals. Muhammad Yusshazwan and Abu Samah had earlier crashed out in the first round of the men’s singles event, with the former losing to South Korean Im Ho Won 2-6, 3-6 and the latter going down 1 6, 2-6 to France’s Gaetan Menguy. Malaysia clinch gold in regu event THE national sepak takraw squad lived up to expectations by winning the gold medal in the men’s regu event after defeating India 2-0 at the final of the 2024 Thai King’s Cup in Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat), Thailand, yesterday. The team, comprising Muhammad Haziq Hairul Nizam, Mohamad Azlan Alias and Farhan Adam displayed outstanding performance in the first set to stun the opponent with a 15-5 win. In the second set, Malaysia continued to trounce India 15-9 and claimed victory. Earlier, the national squad retained its winning streak in all three matches in the five-team premier division before meeting India in the final round-robin match. The 2022 Hangzhou Asian Para Games gold medallist, who marched into the quarterfinals as Group B champion, kept the momentum going by ousting Greece’s Chrisy Morfi Metzou 7-0 yesterday. – Bernama Saliev (7.16m) for silver. End of the road league round in the top four to book a slot in the semifinals. At the same time, Sarjit also reminded his men to be wiser in organising their moves, especially when in the penalty box. “When we’re in D, we have to be quick and decisive to score,” he said. The Speedy Tigers are scheduled to depart for China’s autonomous region today. – Bernama top Group B. She got the ball rolling by dispatching Ukraine’s Nataliia Konenko 8-6 before edging Canada’s Alison Levine 3-2 and outplaying Egypt’s Hanaa Elfar 11-3.

“She joined the national boccia squad in 2017 but quit in 2020. She rejoined the squad in 2023. “That’s why she had a short preparation time of almost a year and a half to readjust to the high-level competition environment, such as Paris 2024. However, I’m still proud of her,” he said. Noor Askuzaimey began her maiden Paralympic Games campaign in style, winning all three matches to

comprehensive victory over the Malaysian in their first-ever meeting. In the semifinals, the 38-year-old Noor Askuzaimey lost 7-0 to Hong Kong’s Cheung Yeun while Chica Chica fell to a slim 4-3 defeat by China’s Lin Xinmei. National boccia coach Raja Zahrule Azhar Raja Khairul Anwar said they never expected Noor Askuzaimey to get this far in her maiden appearance at the Paralympics.

1. China

33

27 12 11

11

2. Great Britain 23 3. United States 8

8 8

4. Brazil 5. France

8 8 0

4 9 0

15 12

61. Malaysia

1

RESULTS & STANDINGS

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE Chelsea 1 (Jackson 25) Crystal Palace 1 (Eze 53) , Manchester United 0 Liverpool 3 (Diaz 35, 42, Salah 56) , Newcastle 2 (Barnes 37, Isak 78) Tottenham 1 (Burn 56-og) . PWD L F A Pts Man City 33009 2 9 Liverpool 33007 0 9 Brighton 32106 2 7 Arsenal 32105 1 7 Newcastle 32104 2 7 Brentford 32015 4 6 Aston Villa 32014 4 6 Bournemouth 3 1 2 0 5 4 5 Nottm Forest 3 1 2 0 3 2 5 Tottenham 31116 3 4 Chelsea 31117 5 4 Fulham 31113 3 4 West Ham 31024 5 3 Man Utd 31022 5 3 Leicester 30123 5 1 Crystal Palace 3 0 1 2 2 5 1 Ipswich 30122 7 1 Wolves 30123 9 1 Southampton 3 0 0 3 1 5 0 Everton 3003210 0 LA LIGA Alaves 2 (Vicente 7, Martinez 78) Palmas 0, Osasuna 3 (Boyomo 21, Dominguez 45-og, Bretones 62) Celta Vigo 2 (Iglesias 29, Gomez 90+1-og) , Sevilla 0 Girona 2 (Martin 41, Ruiz 73 pen) , Getafe 0 Real Sociedad 0, Real Madrid 2 (Mbappe 67, 75-pen) Real Betis 0. TOP 5 PWD L F A Pts Barcelona 4400133 12 Real Madrid 4 2 2 0 7 2 8 A. Madrid 42206 2 8 Villarreal 42209 7 8 Girona 42117 4 7 SERIE A Fiorentina 2 (Kean 45, Gosens 90+6) Monza 2 (Djuric 18, Maldini 32) , Genoa 0 Verona 2 (Tchatchoua 55, Tengstedt 64-pen) , Juventus 0 Roma 0, Udinese 1 (Brenner 43) Como 0. TOP 5 PWD L F A Pts Inter Milan 32108 2 7 Juventus 32106 0 7 Torino 32105 3 7 Udinese 32104 2 7 Verona 32015 3 6 BUNDESLIGA Bayern Munich 2 Freiburg 0, Heiden heim 4 Augsburg 0. TOP 5 PWD L F A Pts Heidenheim 2 2 0 0 6 0 6 B. Munich 22005 2 6 RB Leipzig 22004 2 6 B. Dortmund 2 1 1 0 2 0 4 Union Berlin 2 1 1 0 2 1 4 FRENCH LIGUE 1 Monaco 1 Lens 1, Angers 1 Nice 4, Le Havre 3 Auxerre 1, Reims 2 Rennes 1, Lille 1 Paris Saint-Germain 3. TOP 5 PWD L F A Pts Paris SG 3300132 9 Marseille 3210104 7 Nantes 32105 1 7 Monaco 32104 1 7 Lens 32104 1 7

Eddy credits positive mindset for success N ATIONAL para-athlete Eddy Bernard does not see his physical limitations as an obstacle to achieve success in life, more so in bringing glory to the country by delivering Malaysia’s first medal at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games. negatively,” he said when met at the mixed zone yesterday. Not only did Eddy win a bronze, but his time of 11.58s also broke the old Asian record of 11.75s set by Sri Lanka’s Indika Gamage at the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan in May. Gold medallist Mpumelelo Mhlongo of South Africa (centre) celebrates on the podium with silver medallist Yamel Luis Vives Suares of Cuba (left) and Eddy Bernard of Malaysia (bronze). – BERNAMAPIX Para-athlete grabs bronze medal in men̳ s 100m T44 dash

Eddy bagged a bronze medal in the men’s 100m T44 (physical impairment) event after clocking 11.58 seconds on the fourth day of the 2024 Paralympics at the Stade de France yesterday. Although born with a condition where some of his fingers are fused and with a smaller right leg, Eddy, of Beluran, Sabah, always maintains a positive mindset and believes that he can do whatever it is that other able-bodied people can do. “When I see what able-bodied people can do, I can do it too. I always try to stay positive. “Sometimes, I do feel down, but I try to focus on other things to stay positive, (and) not to think

The 23-year-old Eddy also felt confident that he could deliver the country’s first medal on the fourth day of this prestigious global sporting event. He said words of encouragement from his coach Hamberi Mahat also fuelled his desire to achieve the highest success in his career since he started representing the country in 2017. “Coach said just go for it, don’t overthink, just focus on yourself,” said the youngest among six siblings. The 2024 World Para Athletics

Championships silver medallist also dedicated the bronze medal to his family, coach Hamberi and his friends for all their support. – Bernama Speedy Tigers to play South Korea in warm-up before ACT 2024

THE national men’s hockey squad will face South Korea in a warm-up match before the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) 2024 in Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia from Sept 8 to 17. Head coach Sarjit Singh said the friendly match on Sept 4 is important to gain momentum before playing in ACT 2024 and that Speedy Tigers will also meet South Korea in the last round of the league stage.

12) and South Korea (Sept 14). In the meantime, Sarjit also admitted that Malaysia will face two difficult challenges to hunt for a slot in the semifinals, as the national squad is also facing the seeded teams, India and Pakistan besides facing potential fierce competition from the Chinese squad as the hosts. However, he remains optimistic that his team will be able to finish the

“We will play against South Korea on Sept 4, so that we can gain momentum for a good start. Most importantly we need to get better and better, we cannot make the same mistakes over and over,” he said when contacted by Bernama yesterday. Malaysia will kick off their ACT 2024 campaign against Pakistan on Sept 8, followed by China (Sept 9), defending champions India (Sept 11), Japan (Sept