Incheon, South Korea: After a temporary medal lull on Sunday, the Gulf nations once again asserted themselves in the track and field events at the Asian Games Main Stadium here on Monday, with Qatar leading the way with three golds.
With temperatures down at 19 degrees Celsius following a full day of showers, Mohammad Al Garni completed a rare double by adding the men’s 1,500-metre gold to the 5,000-metre title he claimed on Saturday.
Al Garni ran a well-measured race to win in 3min 40.23sec after a final burst saw him overtake Bahrain’s reigning Asian champion Rashid Ramzi, who was forced to settled for silver, while Iraq’s Adnan Al Mantafage took the bronze.
Qatar exerted their dominance as Abu Bakr Ali Kamal breezed to gold in the men’s 3,000-metre steeplechase in 8:28.74, leaving Bahrain’s Asian games record holder Tareq Mubarak Salem Taher with the silver nearly 12 seconds behind, while India’s Naveen Kumar took bronze.
And Qatar signed off on a superb note when brothers Moataz and Muammar Eisa Barshim took gold and bronze respectively in the men’s high jump, leaving China’s Zhang Guowei with the silver.
Moataz, the elder sibling by three years, has been creating ripples on the international scene following a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics and silver at the 2013 Moscow World Championships.
The 23-year-old said he wanted to use the Asiad to take a shot at Cuban Javier Sotomayer’s world record of 2.45 metres after jumping 2.43 in the Diamond League earlier this month. But, after two failed attempts at 2.40 and with gold already safe, he decided enough was enough and celebrated defending the Asian Games title he won in 2010.
Earlier, the UAE’s Betlhem Desalegn finished in an agonising fourth place in the women’s 1,500-metre final. Bahrain’s seasoned distance runner Jamal Maryam Yousuf won gold in 4:09.90sec, leaving silver for her teammate Mimi Belete Gebregeiorges, while India took the bronze through Jaisha Puthiya Veetil Orchatteri.
Desalegn did well to keep up with the leading pack for the most part, but with 300 metres to go Yousuf came up with an early final kick to leave the rest of the field behind.
The Gulf nations finished the night winning four golds, three silver medals and a bronze.
India’s Commonwealth Games silver medallist Seema Punia threw 61.03m, just short of her season’s best, to win the women’s discus.
Strong showings in the shot, javelin and 800m saw Uzbekistan’s Ekaterina Voronina to gold in the heptathlon, while Maria Londa of Indonesia achieved a personal best 6.55m to scoop a surprise gold in the long jump.
