2017 ASEAN Para Games


The 2017 ASEAN Para Games, officially known as the 9th ASEAN Para Games, was a Southeast Asian disabled multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 17 days after the 2017 [Southeast Asian Games] from 17 to 23 September 2017. This was the third time Malaysia host the ASEAN Para Games and its first time since 2009. Previously, Malaysia also hosted the inaugural games in 2001.
Around 1452 athletes participated at the event, which featured 369 events in 16 sports. It was opened by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.
The final medal tally was led by Indonesia, followed by host Malaysia and Thailand, while East Timor won its first ever ASEAN Para Games gold medals.
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Development and preparation

The Malaysia SEA Games Organising Committee is the governing body for the 2017 ASEAN Para Games. It was formed in 2015 to oversee the staging of the event.

Venues

The 2017 ASEAN Para Games was held around the Klang Valley area, consists of Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Putrajaya and Negeri Sembilan.
All the existing venues in Bukit Jalil National Sports Complex were upgraded while the velodrome, costed MYR 80 million was built in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan to host track cycling events and was completed on late March 2017 and opened on 26 May 2017. They were equipped with disabled-friendly facilities prior to the games.
A games village was not built, and like the Southeast Asian Games, a "village in the city" concept saw athletes and officials housed in 6 hotels in the area.
The 9th ASEAN Para Games had 17 venues for the games. 14 in Kuala Lumpur and 1 each in Selangor, Putrajaya and Negeri Sembilan respectively.

Ticketing

On 4 July 2017, it was announced that no paid tickets are required for the ASEAN Para Games events and the entry to the games' venues is entirely free.

The Games

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony was held in Bukit Jalil National Stadium on 17 September 2017 at 20:17 MST which highlighted aspects of disabled people overcoming challenges in life. The time 20:17 was chosen to start the opening ceremony to mark the year 2017, the year which Malaysia hosted the 9th ASEAN Para Games.
A minute of silence was held before the ceremony to mourn the passing of the 14th Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the 28th Sultan of Kedah, Sultan Abdul Halim and the victims of the 2017 Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah madrasa fire in Petaling Jaya. The ceremony begins with the arrival of the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor. The National Anthem of Malaysia, Negaraku was performed by Malaysian Armed Forces band as the national flag was raised. This was followed by the countdown projection, the video of several Malaysian children carrying the flags of the participating nations and the projection of the games logo on the stage centre. After that, the national flags of the participating nations, the ASEAN Para Sports Federation flag and the edition flag, were brought into the stadium to symbolise the welcoming of the participants by Malaysia, the games' host nation. "Rimau", the mascot of the Games then entered the stadium in a wheelchair after the Volunteers form the shape of the mascot's head as the projection of the mascot's head appears on the stage centre.
Next, the parade of athletes from all 11 competing nations started with Brunei leading the field in alphabetical order and ended with the host nation, Malaysia entering the stadium last, led by two flagbearers who were gold medalists of the 2016 Summer Paralympics. A video featuring Malaysian notable Paralympic athletes and rapper Aman RA entitled I am Here was also shown.
OrderNationFlag bearer/sSport
1Brunei|2017 Southeast Asian Games

Closing ceremony

The closing ceremony was held in Bukit Jalil National Stadium on 23 September 2017 at 20:30 MST. Like the opening ceremony, the closing ceremony was directed by film director Saw Teong Hin alongside the Memories Entertainment creative team with co-operation from the Malaysian Armed Forces.
The ceremony begins with the arrival of the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. The National Anthem of Malaysia, Negaraku was performed by Malaysian Armed Forces band as the national flag was raised. Flags of the participating nations, the Federation flag and the Games edition flag were brought into the stadium. This was followed by the parade of athletes from 11 nations and Rimau entering the stage with Malaysia entering the stadium last. The parade of volunteers started with the volunteers dancing to Faizal Tahir's hit single, "Gemuruh", followed by a video shot of several volunteers and top para athletes and Minister of Youth and Sports, Khairy Jamaluddin. A cultural performance titled "Sama-sama", a sign of gratitude for Malaysia being given the opportunity to host the games, was presented.
Closing speeches were given by the President of the Malaysia Paralympic Council, SM Nasarudin SM Nasimuddin and ASEAN Para Sports Federation President, Osoth Bhavilai. Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia Ahmad Zahid Hamidi then declared the 2017 ASEAN Para Games closed. A video about the participating athletes performing throughout the games, featuring some Malaysian sports medalists and their coaches with Jaclyn Victor and Vince Chong song, "Together We Rise" as background music, was played followed by the extinguishing of the cauldron and the lowering of the APSF flag by the Royal Malaysian Navy. The ASEAN Para Sports Federation flag was handed over from the Malaysian Paralympic Council President to the Philippines Paralympic Council President, Michael I. Barredo through Minister of the Youth and Sports of Malaysia, and APSF President. The National Anthem of the Philippines, Lupang Hinirang was played and the Philippines flag was raised, symbolising the hosting responsibilities being passed to Philippines. A video of the Philippines tourism featuring Philippines Para athletes was later shown. The ceremony concluded with a special concert by Yuna and fireworks erupted over the stadium, signalling the official conclusion of the games.

Participating nations

Some 1,452 athletes from all 11 ASEAN countries participated in the Games. East Timor returned to compete at the ASEAN Para Games after it last participated at the 2011 edition following the lifting of its suspension by the International Paralympic Committee.

Sports

16 Para Sports with 369 events have been included in the games.

Medal table

The 2017 ASEAN Para Games featured 369 events, resulting in 369 medal sets to be distributed.
Two bronze medals were awarded in most events in racket sports: 11 in Badminton, 18 in Table tennis and 3 in Wheelchair tennis. Furthermore, there was a third-place tie in the Bowling mixed doubles TPB8+TPB8 event, giving a total of 33 additional bronze medals. On the other hand, 7 silver and 28 bronze medals were not awarded in 28 events in 6 sports competed at the games due to few number of participants. These are: Athletics, Boccia, Cycling, Powerlifting, Swimming and Table tennis.
As a result, a total of 1105 medals comprising 369 gold medals, 362 silver medals and 374 bronze medals were awarded to athletes.
The Host Malaysia's performance was their third best in ASEAN Para Games History and was second behind Indonesia as overall Champion. Meanwhile, despite small contingent size, East Timor managed to win its first ever ASEAN Para Games gold medals, all 2 of them are from athletics.

Live Broadcasting

The organiser hosted the live video stream at its YouTube channel for the opening and closing ceremonies and 5 sport events namely, Swimming, Cycling, Powerlifting, Athletics and Wheelchair Action Live Broadcasting basketball. An official mobile application for the games was also released which featured live streams of selected sports events, schedules, results and other promotional materials. Radio Televisyen Malaysia and People's Television Network serves as the official broadcaster of the games in Malaysia and the Philippines respectively.