(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Oman's star sprinter Barakat al Harthi narrowly missed winning a medal in the 60m race at the fifth Asian Indoor Martial and Arts Games in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, on Tuesday.
On a day, when the 29 year old achieved his personal best time of 6.66s in the semifinal heat, Barakat was edged in the final by Iran's bronze-medallist Reza Ghasemi, who clocked 6.64s. The Omani timed 6.67s to miss a podium finish by the proverbial whisker.
Iran's Hassan Taftian won the gold after running his personal best of 6.55s while the Philippines' Eric Shauwn Cray took the silver (6.63).
A two-time Olympian, Barakat began the day by convincingly winning the preliminary round heat in a time of 6.80s to qualify for the semifinal.
Buoyed by his preliminary heat win, Barakat set the track ablaze in the second semifinal heat bettering his previous personal best of 6.67s.
In fact, the Omani defeated the eventual silver medallist Cray in this heat with the Filipino content to finish behind the Omani in 6.70s.
Barakat's personal best in the semifinals was also the top time among all the three heats comprising 24 athletes.
It turned out to be the only consolation for the 2010 Asian Games bronze medallist as despite his efforts in the final race, a medal eluded him.
Barakat has been preparing for the past few months for this event and as part of his build-up for the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, the Oman Athletics Association (OAA) officials even decided to allot the lone wildcard for the IAAF World Championships in London in August to Mohammed al Saadi.
On Barakat's absence from the worlds, Jahad al Sheikh, the OAA general secretary, had then told Muscat Daily, 'There is a good chance for Barakat to win a medal at the Ashgabat Games. He has been preparing well for the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games.'
Barakat may not have won a medal in Ashgabat but his personal best en route to a fourth-place finish vindicated his preparations for the Games.
The failure to Barakat and his teammate, Ahmed al Saadi, earlier in the day to win any medal ended Oman's campaign in indoor athletics, a day after both Omani girls - Fatma al Nabhani and Maryam al Balushi - made first-round exits in the individual indoor tennis event.
Saadi, who was lucky to make it to the 400m final on Monday after the winner of his semifinal heat was disqualified, finished last on Tuesday. He clocked 48.46s while Qatar's Abdalelah Haroun Hassan timed 45.68s, a new Games record, to win gold. Saudi Arabia's Mazen Alyasen won the silver (46.35s) while Kazakhstan's Mikhail Litvin (46.51) took the bronze.
The Oman Olympic Committee (OOC) had decided to send only five athletes for the AIMAG with its medal hopes largely depending on Barakat and Fatma al Nabhani.
Oman's hopes now lie with Fatma and her partner Sarah al Balushi in tennis doubles event, which begins on Thursday.
Though Fatma is carrying a back injury, a reason she attributed to her shock first-round exit to a Thai girl on Monday, the 26 year old hopes that she could get enough rest for her recovery ahead of the doubles campaign.
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