Bahrain bag five more medals at 19th Asian Games in China

TDT | Manama    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain added five medals yesterday at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, including two gold captured by Kemi Adekoya and Birhanu Balew.

Kemi was triumphant in the women’s 400 metres, where she was joined on the podium by fellow-Bahraini Salwa Eid Naser, who won silver; while Balew captured his gold medal in the men’s 10,000m.

The Kingdom’s star-studded athletics team also came away with two bronze medals yesterday through Hajar Alkhaldi in the women’s 100m and Abbas Yusuf Abbas in the men’s 400m.

Bahrain’s five-medal haul on the second day of competition on the track and in the field brought their tally to six so far at the Hangzhou Asiad, including three gold, one silver and two bronze.

That put them in 14th place on the official medal standings based on gold medals, and 18th based on total.

The elite Bahraini athletes are back in action today for another chance to add to their achievements.

In the women’s 400m final, Kemi and Salwa had brilliant starts and maintained their strong pace down the final bend.

Both Bahraini runners were then side by side heading down the home straight, and Kemi managed to edge Salwa by the narrowest of margins. Kemi won in a time of 50.66 seconds while Salwa was second in 50.92s.

Vallabouy Shereen Samson of Malaysia claimed the bronze medal in 52.58s. Kemi came away with her third Asian Games gold medal, adding to her wins in the same event as well as in the women’s 400m hurdles at the 2014 Asiad in Incheon, South Korea.

“I’m really happy to repeat what I know how to do best,” said Kemi after her run.

She will now be looking to add to her Hagnzhou medal count when she competes in the women’s 400m hurdles, the women’s 4x400m relay and the mixed 4x400m relay.

For Salwa, who was coming off an injury leading up to this year’s Asiad, her runner-up finish yesterday earned her a second silver and fourth medal overall in the Asian Games.

In the 2018 edition in Jakarta, she won silver in the women’s 4x400m relay, while also taking gold in the women’s 400m and women’s 4x100m relay.

She will next be going for the wom - en’s 200m gold, starting with her first-round heat today, and will also be teaming up with Kemi and others in the women’s and mixed 4x400m relays.

In the men’s 10,000m final, Balew captured his gold medal after completing the race distance in 28 minutes 13.62 seconds.

It was the second Asiad medal of his career. Balew had also won the 5,000m gold in 2018.

Balew will be hoping to complete a fantastic long-distance double in Hangzhou when he races to defend his title in the 5,000m final on Wednesday. Bahraini Dawit Fikadu was also competing in the 10,000m final yesterday, but he was disqualified for jostling/obstruction.

Hotly contested

In the women’s 100m title race, Hajar claimed her bronze medal in a hotly contested sprint with the tightest of finishes.

Hajar had a finishing time of 11.35s, pipping Thailand’s Supanich Poolkerd by just six-thousandths of a second to claim the final podium place.

Manqi Ge of China won gold in 11.23s, while Veronica Shanti Pereira of Singapore claimed silver in 11.27s. Bahrain’s Edidiong Odiong was sixth in the race in 11.54s.

Hajar claimed her second Asiad medal, adding to her women’s 4x100m gold in 2018.

She will be looking for a repeat success this year when she races alongside Edidiong, who will be back on track today in the women’s 200m first-round heats.

In the men’s 400m final yesterday, Abbas claimed his bronze after finishing his sprint in 45.65s.

The Bahraini was leading midway through the home straight, but he could not maintain his stride over the closing metres, when Saudi Arabia’s Yousef Masrahi powered to the front to win in 45.55s. Japan’s Kentaro Sato captured the silver medal in 45.57s.

Abbas will also be running in the men’s 4x400m relay and join Kemi and Salwa in the mixed 4x400m relay over the coming days.

Meanwhile, Bahrain’s Saeed Alkhaldi, the younger brother of Hajar, had a valiant effort in the men’s 100m final yesterday.

He finished fifth with a new personal best time of 10.15s, which beat his previous fastest mark of 10.19s, which he set in the semi-finals held earlier in the day to earn his place in the medal race.

Elsewhere on the track yesterday, Bahrain’s Zouhair Aouad qualified for the men’s 1,500m final.

He ranked third in his firstround heat after completing the distance in a time of 3:56.15, which was eighth-best amongst the 12 athletes to advance. The final is scheduled for a 3.30pm start today, Bahrain time.

Bahraini sprinter Aminat Jamal could not advance past the women’s 100m hurdles first round. She finished seventh in her heat in a time of 13.44 seconds.

For other Bahraini athletes going for gold today, Abdelrahman Mahmoud will compete in the men’s shot put final starting from 2pm, Bahrain time, John Koech will go for gold in the men’s 3,000m steeplechase medal race at 2.15pm, and recently crowned world champion Winfred Yavi will look to add a women’s 1,500m Asiad gold to her global title when she competes in her final at 3.20pm, Bahrain time, along with fellow-Bahraini Marta Yota.