James Kwalia in Beijing (© Getty Images)
World 5000m bronze medallist James Kwalia opened Qatar's golden quest to highlight the second day at the 3rd Asian Indoor Games in Hanoi on Sunday (01) evening.
Kwalia’s teammate Essa Ismail Rashid and Bahraini runner Alemu Bekele Gebre provided the required challenge in the men’s 3000m race. Bekele charged Kwalia at the bell as they ran shoulder-to-shoulder but the Qatari made a strong kick in the final bend to reach the finish in 8:00.80, a new Games Record. Bekele clocked 8:01.50 for the silver.
Another World championship finalist, Ji Wei posted yet another new mark of 7.69 secs to win the men’s 60m Hurdles. The Army athlete from China finished eighth in 110m hurdles in Berlin in August and was already an Asian champion indoors in Doha last year. It took a careful read of the photo to determine the rest of the podium. Mohammed Essa Al-Thawadi (Qatar) and Sami Al-Haydar (Saudia Arabia) each clocked 7.81 but the nod for silver went to the Qatari.
Olga Rypakova of Kazakhstan, the continental record-holder in the Triple Jump, both indoors and out, and reigning Asian champion, once again proved her mettle with a 14.40m leap for the gold and a meet record.
Rypakova’s compatriot Irina Litvinenko and Thailand’s Thitima Muangjan, the defending Asian Indoor Games champion and silver medallist in Macau had fought it out with the leader. However they could not match Rypakova’s exploits of the day and hence had to be content with minor medals in spite of registering their personal bests.
Iraq won a surprise medal, silver, through its 400m runner Mahmood Gulstan (53.75) as she finished second behind China’s Chen Jing-wen (53.58) in a hard-fought race.
Athletics competition in Hanoi concludes on Monday.
Ram. Murali Krishnan for the IAAF
Leading Results:
MEN:
400m:
1. Ismail Al-Sabani KSA 47.31; 2. Youssef Al-Masrahi KSA 47.49; 3. Sergey Zankov KAZ 47.63;
3000m:
1. James Kwalia Kurui QAT 8:00.90; 2. Alemu Bekele Gebre BRN 8:01.50; 3. Essa Ismail Rashid QAT 8:05.87;
60m Hurdles:
1. Ji Wei CHN 7.69; 2. Mohammed Essa Al-Thawadi QAT 7.81; 3. Sami Al-Haydar KSA 7.81;
High Jump:
1. Vitaliy Tsykunov KAZ 2.22; 2. Majed Eldein Ghazal SYR 2.22; 3. Zhao Kuansong CHN 2.20;
Long Jump:
1. Majid Ghazi Marzouq KSA 7.96; 2. Zhuang Haitao CHN 7.91; 3. Theerayut Philakong THA 7.72;
WOMEN:
400m:
1. Chen Jing-wen CHN 53.58; 2. Mahmood Gulstan IRQ 53.75; 3. Marina Maslenko KAZ 54.34;
Triple Jump:
1. Olga Rypakova KAZ 14.40; 2. Irina Litvinenko KAZ 13.87; 3. Thitima Muangjan THA 13.78
Click here for full results
Kwalia’s teammate Essa Ismail Rashid and Bahraini runner Alemu Bekele Gebre provided the required challenge in the men’s 3000m race. Bekele charged Kwalia at the bell as they ran shoulder-to-shoulder but the Qatari made a strong kick in the final bend to reach the finish in 8:00.80, a new Games Record. Bekele clocked 8:01.50 for the silver.
Another World championship finalist, Ji Wei posted yet another new mark of 7.69 secs to win the men’s 60m Hurdles. The Army athlete from China finished eighth in 110m hurdles in Berlin in August and was already an Asian champion indoors in Doha last year. It took a careful read of the photo to determine the rest of the podium. Mohammed Essa Al-Thawadi (Qatar) and Sami Al-Haydar (Saudia Arabia) each clocked 7.81 but the nod for silver went to the Qatari.
Olga Rypakova of Kazakhstan, the continental record-holder in the Triple Jump, both indoors and out, and reigning Asian champion, once again proved her mettle with a 14.40m leap for the gold and a meet record.
Rypakova’s compatriot Irina Litvinenko and Thailand’s Thitima Muangjan, the defending Asian Indoor Games champion and silver medallist in Macau had fought it out with the leader. However they could not match Rypakova’s exploits of the day and hence had to be content with minor medals in spite of registering their personal bests.
Iraq won a surprise medal, silver, through its 400m runner Mahmood Gulstan (53.75) as she finished second behind China’s Chen Jing-wen (53.58) in a hard-fought race.
Athletics competition in Hanoi concludes on Monday.
Ram. Murali Krishnan for the IAAF
Leading Results:
MEN:
400m:
1. Ismail Al-Sabani KSA 47.31; 2. Youssef Al-Masrahi KSA 47.49; 3. Sergey Zankov KAZ 47.63;
3000m:
1. James Kwalia Kurui QAT 8:00.90; 2. Alemu Bekele Gebre BRN 8:01.50; 3. Essa Ismail Rashid QAT 8:05.87;
60m Hurdles:
1. Ji Wei CHN 7.69; 2. Mohammed Essa Al-Thawadi QAT 7.81; 3. Sami Al-Haydar KSA 7.81;
High Jump:
1. Vitaliy Tsykunov KAZ 2.22; 2. Majed Eldein Ghazal SYR 2.22; 3. Zhao Kuansong CHN 2.20;
Long Jump:
1. Majid Ghazi Marzouq KSA 7.96; 2. Zhuang Haitao CHN 7.91; 3. Theerayut Philakong THA 7.72;
WOMEN:
400m:
1. Chen Jing-wen CHN 53.58; 2. Mahmood Gulstan IRQ 53.75; 3. Marina Maslenko KAZ 54.34;
Triple Jump:
1. Olga Rypakova KAZ 14.40; 2. Irina Litvinenko KAZ 13.87; 3. Thitima Muangjan THA 13.78
Click here for full results
