He said the responsibility entrusted upon him was a great honour since he is only making his Paralympic debut in Tokyo.

“I hope that carrying the Jalur Gemilang at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Paralympics will inspire me to do my best,” he said today.

Regarded as the main challenger for medals in the over-72kg men’s category, world record holder Bonnie, however, prefers not to think of medals so as to avoid putting pressure on himself when he competes at the Tokyo International Forum on Aug 28.

The pint-sized strong man from Sarawak, however, is not taking his opponents in Tokyo lightly. Among them are 2016 Rio Paralympics silver medallist Rasool Mohsin of Iraq, 2017 world champion Hu Peng of China and Nigerian Nnamdi Innocent.

Bonnie, who began representing the country in 2017, said his final preparations were progressing well, adding that he is scheduled to leave for Tokyo on Saturday.

Bonnie broke the world record for the men’s over-72kg category at the 11th Fazza Dubai 2021 Para Powerlifting World Cup in the UAE, eventually winning gold in June, thus erasing the previous mark of 229kg set by Iran’s Roohallah Rostami at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Para Games in Indonesia.

On Wednesday, Bonnie and para athlete Siti Nooriasah Arifin were named Malaysia’s flag-bearers for the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics on Aug 24 at the Olympic Stadium.

Apart from Bonnie and Siti Nooriasah, three other athletes, namely Rio 2016 gold medallist Ziyad Zolkefli (athletics); 2019 world champion S Suresh (archery) and 2017 Asean Para Games gold medallist Abu Samah Borhan (wheelchair tennis), will also take part in the opening ceremony march.

Bonnie will also have Jong Yee Khie for company in powerlifting as the latter will be competing in the over-107kg category on Aug 30.

The 22 national para-athletes will compete in nine sports at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, which are scheduled to end on Sept 5.