IT was another healthy day for Malaysian athletes as they won eight gold at the Palembang Asean University Games but catching Thailand and Indonesia remains a tall order for them with only three days left.
National swimmer Khoo Cai Lin bagged her second gold after winning the women’s 400m freestyle gold on Tuesday when she powered to the 400m individual medley title in five minutes and 18 seconds at the Jakabaring Aquatics Complex.
Cai Lin conceded that equalling her seven-gold feat in Laos two years is out of the question.
“My performance was not too bad today considering I have not been training that hard since the Incheon Asian Games and this is not really my best discipline,” she said.
“The competition has got tougher this year, Philippines and Thailand are stronger than at the last games.
“I believe I still have a chance to win the 200m individual medleyand the 800m freestyle tomorrow.”
Erika Kong took her second gold of the competition when she won the women’s 100m breaststroke gold in 1:13.07s. Indonesia's Margaretha Kreta Pradani finished second on 1:15.04s while Denjylie Cordero (1:15.23s) of the Philippines clinched bronze.
Malaysia won another three silver via Shaun Yap (1:03.44s) in the men’s 100m breaststroke, Chui Lai Kwan (26.29s) in the women’s 50m freestyle and the men’s 400m freestyle relay (3:30.99s).
Traisy Vivien Tukiet bagged the nation’s second gold in diving after she emerged victorious in the women’s 10m platform discipline with a 286.60 score.
Traisy said: “I think I did reasonably well considering I only knew I would be competing here a few weeks before the tournament while I was on holiday and my preparation was not as good as it could have been.
In athletics, Muhammad Hakimi Ismail was right on the money as he defended his men’s triple jump gold with a leap of 16.28m.
Adi Alifuddin Hussin won his fourth gold in a row in the men’s shot put after managing a throw of 16.60m but was some way off the national record of 17.54m he set at the Myanmar Sea Games last year.
Teammate Mohd Alif Hanif Mohd finished third on 14.59m.
Malaysian athletes also took silver through Raja Nursheena Raja Azhar (13.86s) in the women’s 100m hurdles and the men’s (Anchois Aron, Mohd Fairol Nazim Mohd Noor, S. Kannathasan, Muhammad Arif Zulhilmi) and women’s (Nurulassikin Mohd Rashi, Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli, Nurul Faizah Asma Mazlan, Saidatul Izzati Suhaimi) 4x400m relay after managing 3:14.15s and 3:54.22s respectively.
National archer Saritha Cham Nong emerged victorious in an all-Malaysian women’s individual compound final against Fatin Nurfatehah Mat Salleh. Saritha took the title with a 6-4 win.
In fencing, Natasha Ezzra Abu Bakar won an unexpected gold with a 15-10 win over Indonesia’s Mayasari Inca in the women’s individual foil final.
Malaysia ended the day third in the overall standings with 30 gold, 30 silver and 42 bronze. Indonesia overtook Thailand at the top with 44-57-34 while the latter moved down to second on 38-26-18.