With his win, Malaysia now have four gold medals at the quadrennial Games.

Bonnie, who clinched gold at the Tokyo Paralympics last year, successfully lifted a new Games record of 220kg en route to becoming the first Malaysian to win the powerlifting event at the Commonwealth Games.

England’s Mark Swan settled for silver with a 202kg lift while Nigeria’s Nnamdi Innocent took bronze with a lift of 190kg.

The victory more than made up for the 23-year-old’s disappointment when he finished fourth in his Games debut at the 2018 edition in Australia.

Bonnie also created history when he won the world title twice in 2019 (Kazakhstan) and 2021 (Georgia).

When met by reporters, Bonnie admitted that he was concerned he would not be able to meet the gold medal target set for him.

“Before coming here, I felt that I had a 50-50 chance. So before today’s competition, I called my parents and they advised me to just do my best. I am grateful I managed to contribute a gold medal for the country,” said the Sarawakian.

Asked why he did not try to break his world record of 230kg, Bonnie said he did not want to take any risks as he has yet to fully recover from a shoulder injury.

He is also happy that his gold medal sees him add to his collection of titles on the world stage, having also emerged triumphant in the Paralympics and World Championships.

The world champion, however, has yet to taste victory in the Asean Para Games.

At the Tokyo Paralympics last year, Bonnie created history when he became the first national athlete to win gold after topping the 72kg category with a lift of 228kg, thus breaking the Paralympics record.