ALL is not lost for Nur Syaiful Zulkafli after the national para swimmer failed to make the cut for the men’s 200m freestyle S5 final at the Paris Paralympics yesterday.
The 29-year-old’s time of 2:52.67 saw him finish in fifth in Heat 1, but it was not enough to put him through to the final as only the top eight swimmers from both heats advanced to the final.
Syaiful just missed the cut as he settled for ninth place overall, just half a second behind Egypt’s Zeyad Kahil, who also finished ahead of Syaiful in Heat 1.
However, the athlete from Sarawak still has three other events where he will be competing in – men’s 50m freestyle S5, 100m breaststroke SB4, and 100m freestyle S5 – and will be vying to make the final today.
At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, Syaiful finished seventh in the 100m freestyle S5, while coming in fifth for the 50m freestyle S5 event.
Meanwhile, world and Paralympic record holder Francesco Bocciardo of Italy took the top spot in the heats with his time of 2:33.12, almost 10 seconds off of his world record time of 2:23.65 set in 2018.
Malaysia’s other para swimmer, Imaan Aiman Redzuan, who competes in the men’s 100m backstroke S14 event, will start on Sept 6.
