Three golds on bountiful day at 2023 Asean Para Games takes Singapore’s tally to 10 in Cambodia
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Thrower Diroy Noordin claimed Singapore's first gold outside the pool in the men’s F40/41 shot put at the 2023 Asean Para Games on June 7.
PHOTO: SNPC
Follow topic:
SINGAPORE – A fruitful Wednesday saw Singapore’s 25-strong contingent of para-athletes claim an additional three golds at the Asean Para Games (APG) in Phnom Penh.
Swimmer Toh Wei Soong, 24, won both the men’s S7 50m freestyle and butterfly.
Thrower Diroy Noordin, 31, secured the Republic’s first title outside the pool in the men’s F40/41 shot put at the June 3-9 Games.
Their achievements took Singapore’s gold-medal tally to 10, surpassing 2022’s total of seven with two days of competition still to go.
At the Morodok Techo National Stadium, Diroy’s throw of 9.17m was short of his personal best of 9.92m from the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
But it was enough to retain the gold, ahead of Indonesia’s Ansyari Sugian Noor (8.81m) and Vietnam’s Tran van Nguyen (8.38m).
Having had to battle through sweltering heat, Diroy told The Straits Times: “I felt a bit nervous today and I was not so confident. But I just tried my best to stay focused, relaxed and just gave it my all. My competitors this year were getting better in terms of throwing strength, so it was a bit difficult.”
The shot put is Diroy’s pet event and, at October’s Hangzhou Asian Para Games, he is aiming to better his fourth place from 2018. He is also hoping for a top-five finish at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
Toh set Games records in both finals on Wednesday. He clocked 30.78sec in the S7 50m fly, ahead of Filipino Ernie Gawilan (34.72sec) and Vietnam’s Nguyen Hoang Nha (34.84sec).
In the S7 50m free, he swam 29.22sec to finish ahead of Nha (30.44sec) and another Vietnamese, Han Quang Thoai (32.19sec).
After forgoing the last APG in Solo, Indonesia to compete in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Toh was eager to race in Cambodia.
He said: “I knew I had a great shot today, but the biggest challenges were keeping my competition anxiety down, keeping calm and focusing on the fundamentals to achieve a race I can be proud of.
“Achieving medals is a great bonus to have.
“These two golds are very satisfying to me as sprints are the highlight of my racing career; they’re the events I enjoy the most and which I train the hardest for.”
Toh Wei Soong ends his stellar APG campaign with a total of three golds and two silvers.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
The 24-year-old believes “a podium finish will be possible” at the Paris Paralympics after finishing fourth in the S7 50m fly and seventh in the S7 50m free at the Tokyo edition in 2021.
He added: “We will see. But it is best to keep humble and let the training and experiences do the work this year and the months leading into the Games next year.”
The two-time Asian Para Games gold medallist ends a stellar campaign with three golds and two silvers.
He also registered an APG record of 1min 4.97sec when winning the S7 100m free on Sunday.
Sprinter James Ang added a silver in the men’s T13 200m in 23.33sec while Tay Wei Ming advanced to the men’s SU5 badminton singles semi-finals.
Singapore are seventh in the medal table with 10 golds, 14 silvers and 11 bronzes.
