(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Chinthana Wasala |
The Peninsula
Doha, Qatar: Ashraf Amgad Elseify yesterday secured the silver medal in the men's hammer throw final of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, taking Qatar's medal tally to five in China.
Elseify, the gold winner at the last Asiad in Indonesia, yesterday with a 72.42-metre throw in his second attempt to briefly lead the standings before China's Wang Qi bettered his mark with a 72.97-metre throw in his penultimate attempt to drag Elseify to second place and clinch the gold medal.
Elseify tried to go further higher in his last two attempts after a foul in his fourth try, but he could only post 71.67 and 72.00 to finish second ahead of Uzbekistan's Sukhrob Khodjaev who sealed the bronze with a performance of 70.79.
“I dedicate this medal to our wise leadership, the President of the Olympic Committee, the Athletics Federation, and all the supporters who have played a major role in providing full support to me,” a jubilant Elseify said after celebrating his silver medal by performing a somersault with the Qatari flag in his hands.
“I am very happy to achieve a medal in this edition of the Asian Games, especially since it is the first continental championship in which I participated after my return from injury. Despite that, I succeeded, praise be to God, in achieving the silver medal, even though I was hoping for gold and I was close to that, but I was not lucky,” Elseify said.
“This medal will be a great motivation for me to prepare with full force for the next Olympic Games in Paris, and my next goal will be to achieve an Olympic medal,” Elseify, who finished sixth at the Rio Olympics in 2016, said.
His brother, Ahmed finished seventh in the same event after throwing the hammer to a distance of 67.86.
Elseify's silver was the second for Qatar at the Hangzhou Asiad, following the silver won by men's skeet Shooters a few days earlier. Qatar now has a total of five medals, including the gold medal won by beach volleyball duo Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan, two bronze medals, won by shooter Nasser Al Attiyah (men's skeet), and mixed skeet team of Reem Al Sharshani and Rashid Saleh Al Athba.
Meanwhile, at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Park Main Stadium, Al Annabi athlete Ismail Abakar finished eighth in the men's 400m final which was won by Saudi Arabia's Yousef Masrahi. Masrahi won in 45.55 seconds while Abakar finished with a time of 46.48.
Later, the 18-year-old Qatari pole vaulter Seifeldin Abdelsalam showed promise despite finishing sixth in the final.
The young athlete cleared the bar at 5.15m and 5.30 in his first attempts, before making it 5.45 in his second try. However, Abdelsalam failed to clear the bar at 5.55m in all three of his attempts.
“I am very happy with my first participation in a major tournament such as the Asian Games, and I feel satisfied with what I achieved during the tournament, and I consider this motivation for me for the future,” Abdelsalam said after the event.
“I am certainly proud that I am the youngest among the contestants, and I am happy with what I have achieved. I aspire to achieve an Olympic medal, and I will make every effort for that,” he added.
EJ Obiena of the Philippines cruised to gold with an Asian Games record of 5.90m, 25cm clear of his nearest challenger Bokkai Huang of China who won the silver.
Also yesterday, Mohamad Al Garni came second in Heat 2 of the men's 1500m, clocking a time of 3:56.02, and advanced to the final along with fellow Qatari athlete Abdirahman Hassan who finished third in Heat 1, clocking 3:52.08.
In the men's 100 metres semi-finals, former Asian champion Femi Ogunode clocked a below-average 10.40 as he bowed out of the event after finishing fifth in the semi-final. Xie Zhenye, who won the same race in 10.03, later went on to become the fastest man in Asia by winning the gold in 9.97secs.
Elsewhere, Qatar's 3x3 basketball team stepped closer to the podium by winning their quarter-final match against Japan with a 21-15 scoreline. The team, consisting of Hamad Mousa, Omar Saad, Mohammed Abbasher and Ahmad Mohamad, will take on Mongolia in the semi-final today at the Deqing Geographic Information Park Basketball Court. If they manage to succeed, they will meet the winner of the encounter between Chinese Taipei and South Korea, in the final which will take place later at the same venue.
In basketball, Qatar men staged an impressive comeback against Indonesia to secure a 74-67 victory in their third and final Group D match yesterday as they booked a place in the qualifying match for the quarter-final stage. They will take on the formidable Philippines team tomorrow, targeting a place in Tuesday's quarter-final clash against Iran.
Qatar also excelled in handball, when the reigning champions beat hosts China 37-20 to take the lead in their group. Qatar will meet Japan in their third and final Main Round match.
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