QOC
Qatar's Abderrahman Samba qualified to the final of the 400M hurdles at the 23rd Asian Athletics Championships at Khalifa International Stadium in Doha on Sunday.
Samba, running in the second heat, never got into the top gear but still managed to top his heat in 49.57sec.
Samba's compatriot Bassem Hemeida also qualified for the final, finishing third behind Chinese Taipei's Chieh Chen.
Team Qatar's Samba said: “I'm feeling good. I pushed until the fifth hurdle and then relaxed tonight to finish the job. The final will be a different race. I cannot make predictions, but we will see."
The Men's 800m also saw Team Qatar excite the home crowd, as a trio of athletes qualified for the final. Adubaker Haydar Abdalla, Jamal Hairane and Abdirahman Saeed Hassan all did what was needed to qualify for tomorrow's final at 19:06.
Qualifying with the quickest time overall, Team Qatar's Abubaker Haydar Abdalla said: “It felt good. Hopefully I will be able to run a smooth race in the final as well and win it. The plan is to win gold and silver tomorrow along with Jamal."
Whilst Qatari athletes enjoyed success, records were also broken in the Javelin with China's Lyu Huihui throwing an Asian Athletics best of 65.83 metres as she secured the first gold medal of the evening, commenting:
The Asian Athletics Championships records continued to be broken with Philippines' Ernest John Obeina claiming gold, whilst Iran's Ehsan Hadadi set a new Asian Championships record in the Men's Discus.
Bahrain's Women impressed with victories for Salwa Naser in the 400m and another gold for Mutile Yavi in the 5000m event, whilst fellow countryman John Kibet Koech also claimed first place in the 3000m steeplechase and Dawit Fikadu ending the evening with gold in the Men's 10000m.
Following her victory, Salwa Naser already switched her focus to the World Championships, commenting: “My time is a season best, but it is still a long way to go until the IAAF World Athletics Championships. My goal there is to win the gold medal, after finishing second two years ago in London."