(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Fawad Hussain |
The Peninsula
Ace middle distance runner Mohamad Al Garni clinched 1500m gold while the national 3x3 basketball team earned a silver medal as Qatar raised their tally to seven medals at the Hangzhou Asian Games yesterday.
Al Garni, who clocked 3:56.02 secs to reach the final on Saturday, set his season best of 3:38.36 secs to win gold medal – second for Qatar at the ongoing Asiad following triumph by Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan in beach volleyball.
“I feel very proud to win a gold medal which is a result of efforts we have made in the build up for Asian Games,” Al Garni said after his win.
“It's a wonderful feeling. I was aiming to win a medal but I was not expecting a gold medal in this tough competition. This victory will give me confidence to achieve more accolades for my country. My next target is to win an Olympic medal,” he added.
The 31-year-old outpaced India's duo of Ajay Kumar Saroj (3:38.94 secs) and Jinson Johnson (3:39.74 secs), who claimed silver and bronze medals respectively. Qatar's Abdirahman Hassan, who finished the race in 3:40.55 secs, secured fourth place in the race.
Also at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, the men's 3000m steeplechase final saw Qatar's Musaab Ali registering his personal best 8:32.57 secs but he had to settle for a fourth place with India's Avinash Mukund Sable setting Asian Games record of 8:19.50 secs to win gold. Japan's Ryoma Aoki (8:23.75) and Seiya Sunada (8:26.47) took silver and bronze medals.
Impressive feat for 3x3 basketball team
Yesterday's second medal for Qatar came when the national 3x3 basketball wrapped their fine performance with a silver medal going down against Chinese Taipei 16-18 after a thrilling final at Deqing Geographic Information Park Basketball Court.
The team comprising Hamad Mousa, Omar Saad, Mohammed Abbasher and Ahmad Mohamad defeated Mongolia 21-13 in the semi-final earlier in the day.
“We were targeting a gold medal but we are content with a silver medal too,” said Qatar's Saad.
“Overall, we performed very well and this achievement is a result of hard work throughout the difficult competition,” he added.
Following the two medals yesterday, Qatar jumped to 16th place in the medals standings with 2 gold, three silver and two bronze medals with hosts China staying on top with 131 gold, 72 silver and 39 bronze medals.
At Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium, Qatar's basketball team will look to stay in medal contention as they face Philippines in the quarter-final today.
Handball team enters semis
Meanwhile, Qatar's handball team stayed on course for another Asiad gold after they defeated Japan to enter the semi-finals.
The defending champions claimed a 32-29 win in a pulsating match after securing a 16-15 lead in the first half.
They will meet Gulf counterparts Kuwait in the semi-final, eyeing a spot in Thursday's gold medal match.
Also yesterday, prominent Qatari shooter Mohammed Al Rumaihi finished in fourth place in the men's trap final with 29 shots as China's QI Ying (46), Kuwait's Talal Al Rashidi (45) and India's Kynan Darius Chenai (32) clinched the podium finish at Fuyang Yinhu Sports Centre.
Today, the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre squash courts will see two Qatar players in action in men's singles event with gold medal contender Abdulla Al Tamimi taking on Pakistan's Nasir Iqbal in Round of 16. Al Tamimi will be joined by compatriot Amjad Syed, who advanced after defeating Mongolia's Guyen Davaajav 11-2, 11-1, 11-3 yesterday.
Syed will meet Malaysia's Eain Yow NG hoping for a place in the quarter-final.
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