KUALA LUMPUR: National coach Faizol Harun believes his charge Ziyad Zolkefli could have thrown further than he did at the Paris Paralympics yesterday (Sept 3).
Ziyad, gold medallist at Rio 2016, was forced to settle for silver in the men's shot put F20 (intellectual impairment) on a 17.18 metre throw at Stade de France.
Faizol admitted that it was not the result they were hoping for as he knows that Ziyad is capable of more.
"To be honest, I am not that satisfied with Ziyad's throws," said Faizol today.
"Ziyad could have gone further but his technique was not as good as it could have been.
"It was not meant to be but we are still glad to finish second."
Ukraine's Oleksandr Yarovyi was just too good on the day as he broke the world record twice after notching 17.60 and 17.61 in his third and fourth attempts to win gold.
The former world record of 17.57m had been set by his compatriot Maksym Koval last year.
Koval, gold medallist at Tokyo 2020, was forced to settle for bronze this time on 16.99m.
Ziyad, whose nickname is The Smiling Giant, was disqualified from the event at Tokyo 2020.
Ziyad had turned up three minutes late to the athletes' call room prior to his event. He was allowed to compete under protest and went on to win.
His protest was, however, rejected after the competition ended, and he was subsequently disqualified.