Malaysian skateboarding athlete Ian Nuriman Amri was the centre of attention when making his debut at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games on Tuesday.

Although he failed to match the skills of leading skateboard athletes in the region, the 11-year-old stole the hearts of the audience who were surprised to see the 135cm-tall boy enter the skatepark at the SkateBoard Stadium in the Jakabaring Sports City.


Heading out in his tiger-striped Malaysian jersey, dark blue school pants and black shoes, the little athlete received cheers from the audience as soon as his name was called out as well as each time he performed a trick under the hot sun.

However, he failed to enter the men's park final by only 2.33 points.

Ian finished in ninth place out of ten participants with 49 points, behind Xiaojun Xiang of China who finished in eighth, the final qualifying spot.

In the street event, Ian clinched 12th place out of 18 participants with a total score of 17.8 points, failing to advance to the final after the event was delayed for over three hours due to heavy rain.

"I did not feel afraid as I'm used to practising with those older than me. I'm proud to be the youngest athlete.

"I'm sad at not being able to enter the final... the weather also affected me a little. But it's okay, as I didn't finish last, and I also learned new skills from the other athletes," he said after the event.

Another national representative in the men's street event, Yaziru Amiru Basyir Zainordin, advanced to the final after recording 21.8 points.

In the women's category, Fatin Syahirah Roszizi and Christina Lai Grace will be competing in the park final on Wednesday.

Skateboarding is contested for the first time at the Asian Games, and will be introduced at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.