Abdul Latif Romly in action during the Men's Final Long Jump of the Malaysian Closed Athletic Champioship at the National sports council traning track in Bukit Jalil. AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star (18/8/2019)
PETALING JAYA: Paralympic champion Abdul Latif Romly brought Malaysia's campaign in the Para Athletics World Championships to a perfect close by successfully retaining his men's T20 (learning disability) long jump title in Kobe, Japan today (May 25).
The 27-year-old's produced a season best effort of 7.30 metres on his fourth jump and it was good enough to secure the third gold for Malaysia in the world para athletics meet.
Ziyad Zolkefli delivered the first gold in the men's F20 shot putt event while Mohd Nazmi Nasri leapt to a surprise win in the men's T37 long jump category earlier.
Abdul Latif was the only finalist to clear 7 metres in the final.
Ecuador's Roberto Carlos Chala Espinoza took silver with 6.95 metres while Jhon Sebastian Obando Asprilla earned bronze for Colombia with 6.84 metres
It is the fourth career gold medal for Abdul Latif in the world para athletics stage.
Latif won in Doha 2015 and London 2017 but settled for silver in Dubai two years later.
However, the Perlis-born para athlete came back strong to regain his world title in Paris last year.
