Alkass Digital
Mohamed al-Garni won Team Qatar their second gold medal at the 2022 Asian Games on Sunday clinching the men’s 1,500m while clocking his season’s best time of 3:38.36secs at the Hangzhou Olympics Sports Centre Stadium.
Al-Garni cruised ahead of India’s Ajay Kumar Saroj (3:38.94) and India’s Jinson Johnson (3:39.74) to take the celebrated top podium place. Qatar’s Abdirahman Hassan finished a close fourth in the same event in 3:40.55secs.
On the same day, Qatar’s 3x3 basketball team (Hamad Mousa, Mohamed Abbasher, Ahmad Mohamed and Omar Saad) also won silver medal while going down fighting 16-18 in the final against Chinese Taipei. Qatar had earlier defeated Mongolia 21-13 in the semi-final.
Sunday’s successes took Qatar’s overall medal’s tally to 7 with two gold medals, 3 silver medals and two bronze medals.
Al-Garni’s golden triumph was praised by Qatar Olympic Committee President HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani. In a message on X (formerly twitter), Sheikh Joaan said: “Congratulations to our hero Mohamed al-Garni for winning the gold in the 1,500m race at the Hangzhou Asian Games 2022. An honourable performance and historic participation. You deserve it, champion.”
HE Shiekh Joaan also lauded the 3x3 basketball team’s success. “Congratulations to the 3x3 basketball champions Ahmed Saeed, Mohamed Hashem, Omar Saad and Hamad Yassin for winning the silver medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games. Don’t fall short and you will always be blessed with success.”
For his part, al-Garni said: “I dedicate the gold medal to our nation’s wise leadership. I am proud of this honourable achievement. I am happy that my efforts have culminated in winning a gold medal. I hope that it will motivate me to achieve more achievements in the future.”
He added: “Winning gold is a wonderful thing. I do not hide that I was hoping to achieve a medal, but I did not expect the gold. But thank God for what was achieved. I thank everyone who supported me. I will work towards the Olympics and aim to win a medal there as well.”
Qatar Basketball Federation president Mohamed al-Mughaiseeb also praised Qatar 3x3 basketball team’s silver win. “We always strive to compete hard and it is the duty of all Qatari athletes to honour the nation at international forums and raise the Qatari flag high,” he said.
He pointed out that Qatar team appeared well in all its matches and succeeded in winning all their matches until the final, which is a big achievement.
Handball team on course for third Asiad gold
Meanwhile, Qatar’s handball team stayed on course for another Asiad gold after they defeated Japan on Sunday 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 Kuwait in the semi-final for a place in Thursday’s gold medal match.
In shooting, Qatar’s Mohamed 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.
Femi Ogunode makes 200m semis
Femi Ogunode topped the second semi-final of men’s 200m clocking 20.75. He finished ahead of Japan’s Koki Ueyama (20.77) and Korea’s Seunghwan Ko (20.87). All the three athletes qualified for the final to be run today.
Barshim to begin high jump quest today
Today, Qatar’s world champion high jump athlete – Olympic gold medallist and twice Asian Games gold medallist – will take part in his his first competition on way to making the final of the event. Barshim is considered the strongest athlete of the Qatar contingent to win gold. He recently claimed bronze at the World Championships in Hungary, and is topping the Diamond League rounds after his win in Zurich.