There was no medal for the Sultanate on Day One of the Asian Para Games in Guangzhou, China, yesterday.

But, it was not a total loss for the Brunei contingent as three of their five athletes, who competed at Aoti Main Stadium, broke their personal records in their respective events yesterday.

"Although the athletes were not able to claim any medals, they showed very encouraging form because almost all of them were able to break their personal records," said chef de mission Hj Rosmadee Hj Md Daud in a statement to The Brunei Times yesterday.

Team Brunei's lone warrior in the women's field events Norhensan Hj Mataha threw 7.60 metres in the F12 women's shot put, breaking her personal best of 6.97m recorded in Kuala Lumpur last year.

Hosts China clinched the gold and silver medals through Zhang Liangmin (11.84m) and Tang Hongxia (11.48m) respectively.

Hemala Devi Eni Kutty of Malaysia threw 9.11m to grab the bronze.

Meanwhile, in the F55 men's shot put, Shari Hj Juma'at recorded his best attempt of 7.83m to place 10th in a field of 19, erasing his previous best of 7.28m.

Hirdan Hj Abdul Kadir, who also competed in said event, took 11th place with a distance of 7.74m.

The gold medal went to Iranian Jalil Bagheri Jeddi (10.89m), followed by silver and bronze medallists Cong Luan Trinh of Vietnam (10.05m) and Palestinian Khamis Zqout (9.52m) respectively.

Martin Dawat was the other record breaker of the day, clocking 25.22 seconds in the T12 men's 200m Heat Three semi-final to shatter his previous personal best of 25.37s. However the time was not enough to grant Martin a ticket into the final which will be competed today.

However, Brunei's chance of winning medals was dealt a blow when Sibuang Hj Kalong suffered a waist injury.

According to Hj Rosmadee, the injury caused Sibuang to foul all three attempts in the F11 men's discus throw because he was unable to execute the perfect movement for a throw.

Thailand's Manop Takhiankham threw 30.60m for gold, with the silver and bronze medals going to Iraqi Hameed Hassain (29.04m) and South Korean Bae Yudong (27.14m) respectively.

Scheduled to compete in the F12 men's shot put, it remains to be seen whether Sibuang can recuperate in time for today's event.

The Sultanate's lone Delhi Commonwealth Games representative, Alihan Muda, will make his debut at the inaugural competition in the F34 men's shot put today.

Also slated for action today is An Nurhaiyyu Md Yusof, who will compete for a spot on the podium in the T12 women's 100m.

Courtesy from Brunei Times