Indonesian swimmer Jendi Pangabean finally won gold in the men’s 100-meter backstroke S9 category at the Gelora Bung Karno Aquatic Center on Thursday. This is the first gold that Jendi has won in the 2018 Asian Para Games. Previously he won bronze in the 100 m freestyle S9 after finishing 1:01.31 on Monday.

Clocking 1:07.45, the 31-year-old swimmer ended in first place, defeating Luo Qingquan of China who finished 1:08.59 and Kwon Yonghwa from South Korea who touched the wall in 1:11.12.

Jendi performed powerfully in the morning preliminary, where he also finished the fastest in 1:07.43.

Talking to the media after the match, Jendi said he was grateful for the result.

“I dedicate this gold medal to Indonesia, which has faced many disasters recently. I hope this can bring spirit and motivation to people who live in Palu and Donggala. All of us here will always pray and support them,” he said.

Jendi recalled months of preparation in Surakarta, Central Java, which was fruitful in the end.

“Tomorrow there will be two more contests for me, I hope I can give my best,” said the athlete who won five golds in the 2018 South East Asia Para Games.

Jendi said he was also thankful for the Indonesians who came to support him in the final.

The Gelora Bung Karno Aquatic Center was packed with hundreds of people on Thursday who came to support their nation.

Compared to the crowd in the previous days, the number of spectators visibly doubled as the committee allowed them to fill the west tribune that was usually used only for athletes and officials.

The cheering of Indonesian fans can be felt through the races, especially when Jendi was swimming.  “The Indonesian supporters this afternoon were amazing. Thank you so much for your support, please come watch me again tomorrow,” he said.

Jendi swam in the S9 category, a disability swimming classification used for categorizing swimmers who generally have severe weakness in one leg.  In the 2018 Para Games, Jendi competes in six categories with four individual categories and two relay categories.

Later on, Jendi won a bronze medal as he and three other swimmers, Steven Sualang Tangkilisan, Guntur and Suriansyah, won the men’s 4 x 100 m relay. The swimmers clocked 4:49.37 seconds.

From the track and field arena, the Indonesian team bagged a silver and bronze medal, this time from Eko Saputra and Nur Ferry Pradana. Eko won a bronze medal in the men’s T12 400 m with 53.16 seconds. He defeated Pham Nguyen Khanh Minh of Vietnam, who clocked 50.94 seconds.

As for Nur Ferry, he won a silver medal in the men’s T45/46/47 400 m with 49.86 seconds, defeating Maan Sandeep Singh of India who won bronze, with Wang Hao of China clocking 48.64 seconds.

The Indonesian track and field team has won six golds, 11 silvers and eight bronzes as of Thursday.

“We have been expecting this bronze medal,” Eko said as quoted by Antara . Eko previously won silver in the men’s 200 m T12 category.

In powerlifting, Ni Nengah Widiasih also contributed a bronze medal in the women’s 86 kilogram category. Nengah’s best lift was 95 kg. The gold medal was collected by Feifein Zheng of China who had a best lift of 139 kg. She also broke the Asian record of 138 kg and previous Para Games’ record of 135 kg.

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