Suparniyati, competing in the women’s shot put F20 (intellectual impairment), won the gold and set a new Asian Para Games record with a throw of 10.75 meters, beating the 10.71 m that was recorded by a Malaysian shot put athlete at the 2012 London Paralympics.

Despite the result, Parni, as she is widely known, was slightly disappointed because she failed to exceed her personal best of 11.03 m. She said she was stressed out prior to the event, largely because she was competing in front of a home crowd.

Rica Oktavia, Parni’s roommate and athlete in the women’s long jump T20 category, won gold in her category and broke the Asian Para Games record with a jump of 5.25 m.

The Indonesian track and field team’s third gold of the day came from Sapto Yogo Purnomo in the men’s 200 m T37 category. Sapto clocked in at 23.67 seconds, outrunning two Iranian athletes, Ali Olfatnia with 24.27 seconds and Davoudali Ghasemi with 24.38 seconds.

“This has been a personal surprise for me as I expected to only win silver in this category. I think I can make a bigger statement in the 100-meter category,” Sapto, a first-time Asian Para Games competitor, said.

Later in the evening, swimmer Syuci Indriani screamed in joy after finishing first in the women’s 100 m SB14 breaststroke. It is her second medal of the Para Games — she won a bronze medal in the women’s 200 m freestyle on Sunday.

“Praise the Lord. I hope I can do something for my parents with the cash rewards,” she said, adding that sending her parents to Mecca for umrah (minor haj) was a lifetime dream of hers.

Indonesian table tennis contributed two medals — a silver and a bronze — on Monday. Ana Widyasari won silver after bowing down to Hong Kong’s Ng Mui Wui in five games in the final at Ecovention Ancol. Indonesian Advos Astan, who competed in the men’s single class 4 (on wheelchair) settled for bronze after losing to South Korea’s Kim Younggun 11-8, 12-10, 11-7.

Para cyclist Muhammad Fadli Imanuddin won silver in the 20-kilometer individual time trial C4. A former top racer in cycling, Fadli turned to para cycling following a circuit incident that saw his left leg amputated. In the time trial on Monday, he clocked in at 28 minutes and 21.835 seconds.

“This is my best time. I even surpassed my top practice time. There will be an evaluation as I seek to get in better shape for future races,” he said as quoted by Antara news agency.

Amid all the glory, the men’s swimming team, which was to compete in the 4x100m relay, was barred from taking part in the event after the team manager forgot to register the team before the competition.

Coach Handoko Purnomo, acknowledging that the failure to register was an act of negligence, said the Indonesian Asian Para Games Organizing Committee (INAPGOC) had set strict rules on the registration process.

The oversight occurred because the team was focused on registering two other swimmers who were set to compete that day.

“We faced problems registering those two swimmers, so we were late registering the relay team […] We forgot to register them as we were occupied with the problem,” Handoko said.

Indonesia was also dealt bad news in the judo arena, where judoka Miftahul Jannah, competing in the 52 kg category, was disqualified for refusing to remove her hijab. 

National Paralympics Committee chief Senny Marbun acknowledged that the disqualification came because Miftahul’s coach, who does not speak English, was not aware that, as part of fair play rules, the use of a hijab in the judo arena was prohibited for bouts involving athletes with visual impairments.

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