Young Malaysian Skateboarder Steals the Show at Asian Games

By Vikneswaran A/L Raman PALEMBANG (Indonesia), Aug 29 (Bernama) -- Malaysian skateboarding athlete Ian Nuriman Amri was the centre of attention when making his debut at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games on Tuesday. Although he failed to match the skills of leading skateboard athletes on the continent, the 11-year-old stole the hearts of the audience who were surprised to see the 135cm-tall boy enter the skatepark at the SkateBoard Stadium in Jakabaring Sports City here. In fact, he had also attracted attention at the athletes' village here, where many were surprised to hear the 'little boy' was competing at the Asian Games, the world's second largest competition after the Olympics. Heading out in his tiger-striped Malaysian jersey, dark blue school pants and black shoes, the little athlete received cheers from the audience as soon as his name was called out as well as each time he performed a trick under the hot sun. However, fate was not on his side as he failed to enter the men's Park final round by only 2.33 points. Ian finished in ninth place out of ten participants with 49 points, behind Xiaojun Xiang of China who finished in eighth, the final qualifying spot. In the Street event, Ian clinched 12th place out of 18 participants with a total score of 17.8 points, failing to advance to the final after the event was delayed for over three hours due to heavy rain. "I did not feel afraid today as I'm used to practising with those elder to me. I'm proud to be the youngest athlete. "I'm sad at not being able to enter the final...the weather also affected me a little. But it's okay, as I didn't finish last, and I also learned new skills from the other athletes," he said after the event here. Another national representative at the Street event, Yaziru Amiru Basyir Zainordin, 24, won the final qualifying berth (eighth place) after recording 21.8 points to advance to the final which takes place on Wednesday. The country's challenge in the women's category will also continue with Fatin Syahirah Roszizi, 16, in the Street final and Christina Lai Grace, 13, in the Park final events at the same venue on Wednesday. Skateboarding is being contested for the first time at the Asian Games, and will be introduced at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. -- BERNAMA