SURABAYA: Malaysia added two gold medals – one each from swimming and handball – on the fifth day of action at the 2024 Asean University Games (AUG 2024) here yesterday.
The two gold medals earned today saw Malaysia remain third in the overall medal tally behind Thailand and Indonesia, with 13 gold, 15 silver and 22 bronze medals.
The first gold for the Malaysian camp came through Low Zheng Yong’s splashing performance at the pool in the men’s 1,500m Freestyle, registering a time of 16:40.87 seconds (s) to beat Vietnam’s Trupng Viet Vu (16:51.61s) and fellow countryman Lew Zheng Wye who registered a time of (17:00.03s).
There was also a glitter of gold at the handball arena when the men’s handball team edged Singapore 28-26 in the final that was played at the Universitas Teknik 10 Nopember yesterday.
The squad under Muhammad Khairul Hafidzin also created history by becoming the first gold medal winner in the sport that is being held for the first time in the AUG after its introduction in Surabaya-Malang.
Apart from the two gold medals, the Malaysian contingent also managed to win a silver medal through men’s futsal after Malaysia lost 1-4 to Indonesia at the Gelora Olahraga Rakyat (GOR) Futsal Universitas Negeri Surabaya (UNESA).
Swimmers also contributed two bronze medals when Terrence Ng Shin Jian finished third in the men’s 100m Freestyle with a time of 51.72s and the women’s 4x100m medley through Christy Teh Xing Ti, Lee Yen Yi, Ho Keesha and Ng Zi Syuen who clocked a time of 4:44.4s.
Meanwhile, the medal hunt continues today, the sixth day of competitions in the AUG 2024 with the Malaysian contingent focusing on swimming and petanque while the badminton squad will be involved in action to book a place in the final.
Malaysian shuttlers will see action in the men’s singles, women’s singles, mixed doubles, women’s doubles and men’s doubles. – BERNAMA
