Wong first Sabahan qualified for Paralympics
Published on: Wednesday, November 13, 2019
By: GL Oh
KOTA KINABALU: Jonathan Wong became the first Sabahan to qualify for the Tokyo Paralympics Games following his second place finish in the T-12 (visually impaired) long jump category at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championship held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates last Thursday.
The Director of National Sports Council (NSC) Paralympics Division Halimon Mohd Sood on Monday confirmed that the 28-year-old has booked his place in the Games next year.
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“It is confirmed, Jonathan has taken one of the slots for the Tokyo Paralympics Games next year with his second placing based on the International Paralympics Committee (IPC) decision to allocate slots for the top four finishers at the World Championship,” he said.
Jonathan clinched the silver with his season’s best of 7.06 metres in his fifth attempt, to finish behind winner Doniyor Saliev of Uzbekistan, 2016 Rio Paralympics bronze medallist, who set a new competition record of 7.44m.
Upon his arrival at Kota Kinabalu International Airport on Monday evening, he was welcomed by a large crowd led by Youth and Sports Minister Phoong Jin Zhe together with his assistant Arunarnsin Taib, the Ministry’s permanent secretary Yusrie Abdullah, MSN director Asneh Mohd Noor and other top officials.
He admitted that it is tough to win gold in the Tokyo Games but vowed to give his best.
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“My target in Tokyo is to try and win the gold medal. I am still ranked number two at the moment and it is a bit tough to be number one, but I will try my best, and I believe if there is a will, you can achieve your target with hard work.
“My immediate target now is the Para-SEA Games in Philippines this coming January and I will try my best to get a good result there as well,” he added.
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Meanwhile, Phoong assured Jonathan that there would not be any pressure imposed on him to win gold at the Tokyo Games.
“Don’t feel the pressure. You just do your best and you must know that all Sabahans are there behind you,” he told him.
Earlier, the Minister said they are very proud of Jonathan’s silver medal achievement at the World Championship.
“We are extremely proud and happy with his success and that is the reason why we have a full team of Youth and Sports Ministry top officials here to welcome him.
“With the qualification confirmed, he stands a very good chance to become the first Sabah-born athlete to win a medal in the Paralympics Games.
“On behalf of the State government, we congratulate him and we hope he can continue the hard work in training to make sure that he can achieve a good result in Tokyo, and I am sure he will.
“He has also set a good example to not only other athletes in Sabah but also to others that if you are willing to work hard, you are able to overcome any obstacles to be successful,” he said.
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