Lebanon’s Katya Bachrouche celebrates after winning the gold medal in the women’s 200m freestyle swimming competition during the 2011 Arab Games in Doha. (AFP)
Qatar’s Ogunode, Iraq’s Abdulrazzaq go for grand double at Khalifa Stadium
Qatar’s Femi Seun Ogunode returns to Khalifa Stadium today on the hunt for title number two at the 2011 Arab Games as Iraqi Danah Abdulrazzaq goes flat out for her own Doha sprint double in the women’s 200m.
After winning the 100m by “a hair’s width”, in the words of silver medallist Barakat al-Harthi, Ogunode will face his Omani rival again in the 200m, one of eight finals on the penultimate day of athletics. The Qatari was an easy qualifier on Saturday in the slowest heat but al-Harthi and 100m bronze medallist Aziz Ouhadi of Morocco were quicker.
Only 0.01sec separated the trio on Thursday and a similar blanket finish is possible with al-Harthi hoping the threads are running in his favour this time. Initially declared the 100m winner, he saw gold slip from his grasp when the judges reversed their decision.
It has been an even busier week for Abdulrazzaq of Iraq who will go for her third medal in her sixth race after also bagging bronze in the 400m on Friday.
Her closest rival will again be the defending champion, Lebanese star Gretta Taslakian, who seemed to have a point to prove when she scorched to the quickest time in the semifinals on Saturday.
Bahrain’s Genzeb Shumi and compatriot Tajitu Daba Chalchissa aim to get in on the double action themselves. After winning the women’s 1,500m and 10,000m on Thursday, they will be favourites for the 800m and 5,000m respectively. Shitaye Eshete Habtegebrel hopes to make it another Bahraini one-two in the 5,000m after she won silver at 10,000m, while 400m champion Malika Akkaoui of Morocco has a double ambition of her own in the 800m.
Akkaoui is a sub-2min two-lap runner at her best but lost to Shumi at the Arab Championships in October.
Algeria’s hopes rest with Baya Rahouli in the women’s triple jump, an event that also features 17-year-old Qatari Reyma Alen Thomas, while Egyptians are expected to dominate the women’s discus and javelin.
The host nation has medal hopes in the men’s shot put too where Khaled Habash al-Suwaidi is the only 20m thrower in the field.
Abouelkassem foils Shaito to take first fencing gold
Doha: Egypt’s Alaa Eldin Abouelkassem won the first fencing gold medal of the 2011 Arab Games, beating Lebanon’s Zain Shaito 15-13 in the men’s individual foil event at the Aspire Dome yesterday.
Shaito got off to a brilliant start in the bout, going up 4-0 over the much more highly rated Egyptian, but soon Abouelkassem was back in the bout bringing the score back to 6-4.
With a succession of points scored of ripostes, Shaito was able to again extend his lead to four points at 10-6 but at the first break it was back to 10-7. After the fencers returned to the piste, Abouelkassem quickly went on the attack, taking back three points immediately to even the bout and then two more to go into the lead 12-10.
From there on it was all Abouelkassem. He took control of the bout and ended the Lebanese’s dream of Arab Games gold.
Abouelkassem progressed to the final after beating his countryman Tarek Fouad in the first semifinal. The two Egyptians traded points until Abouelkassem took the initiative, scoring three consecutive points to give himself a lead that he was able to maintain.
Jordan overcome exhaustion to reach semis
Playing their third game in as many nights, Jordan qualified for the medal round while the race for the final three berths got crowded by the end of play in men’s basketball at Al Gharafa Indoor Hall yesterday.
After a sluggish first half, Jordan cranked up their offence and beat Algeria 78-68. American-born coach Thomas Baldwin was glad to have a breather before Wednesday’s semifinals.
“It was obvious what they were trying to do. They ran the ball in the first half to tire us out,’’ said Baldwin. “I am exhausted and I can’t imagine what my players are like.”
“I don’t want to sound arrogant but we expected to be there,’’ continued Baldwin about becoming the first team to qualify for the medal round. “It is great. We came here to win a medal.’’
Earlier, Tunisia, who were playing their second game in less than 20 hours, fell 82-59 to Egypt, a team that had four days rest.
Jordan are in first place with four points, one more than Tunisia, and two up on Egypt. Qatar, Algeria and Kuwait have one point each. The top four teams advance to the medal round, with the two that do not make it playing a game to decide fifth and sixth place. The Algerians have to beat Qatar tomorrow in order to move on and their American coach Sean Whalen heads into the game confident of success.
“If we play our best, we will be there,’’ he said. “It is a must-win game and I am confident.” The Egyptians outscored the Tunisians 46-27 in the second half to pull away.
“We concentrated in the third and fourth quarters because we knew that the Tunisian team would play the second half in a much stronger way,’’ said Wael Badr of Egypt. “So the most important thing is we focused on the third quarter and played good defence to increase the difference in the score to win the game.”
Tunisia coach Khelil Ben Ameur cited fatigue as a factor.
“The pools favoured some teams and not others. We had us, Lebanon and Jordan in our pool and only Morocco was not a strong team. Jordan plays tonight and that is three games in three days. Lebanon played three games in three days. We were playing less than 20 hours after our last game. That is not right.”
In games for placement in the standings, Lebanon won their second straight game, beating Sudan 114-71, while Iraq won 68-61 against Morocco. “It was more like a scrimmage,’’ said Lebanon’s Cheickh El Khatib, who had 31 points. “We have had to suck it up and play after losing two (opening round) games we thought we should have won.”
Qatari stands between Egypt and karate dominance
The 2011 Arab Games Karate competition gets underway today at 9:00 AM at the Qatar Sports Club, with seven gold medals up for grabs on day one.
First up is the men’s and women’s Kata – a judged event in which athlete’s perform a series of specific moves. In the men’s competition, Qatar’s Adham Abdulnassir Alhashem enters as one of the favourites. The 21-year-old is ranked 16 in the world although is yet to win a medal in a major championships.
In the women’s event, Egypt’s Sarah Aly is the one to beat and probably will not be as she is ranked number three in the world. Her closest competiton should come from Morocco’s Salma Assila.
In the individual fighting events, 1st Dan Nadia Abdelrahman from Egypt, who is currently ranked 11th in the world, is expected to shine in the women’s -55kg class in what looks like being a golden day for Egyptian athletes on the mat. The women’s -50kg weight group is a more open, but it is likely that the North African athlete will sit on top of the medal podium at the end of the day. In the men’s -60kg division, the star of the show is lethal Egyptian Mohamed Aly, a proven performer in big competitions, the 21-year-old should breeze through to Arab Games glory. Also in this weight group, is returning 2007 Asian Games bronze medalist Emad Mohammed A. Almalki from Saudi Arabia.
Egypt begin road to more medals today
Gymnastics trampoline bounces into the 2011 Arab Games today with the men’s and women’s individual qualification competitions taking place at the Aspire Dome.
After dominating the artistic gymnastics competition with nine gold medals and 19 medals in total, Egypt will again likely be the NOC to beat. Egypt’s Ahmed Rady is a strong contender in the men’s competition. He brings recent world championship experience to the Games and at 18 years of age will be leading his three younger teammates in their quest for medals.
Qatar is also fielding a four-member team in the trampoline competition, with Algeria, Tunisia and Yemen also entering competitors.
GULF TIMES
