Jakarta: Ali Al Lanjawi and Mohsin Mohammad have kept UAE’s hopes alive in the runabout limited jet-ski competition at the 18th Asian Games on Thursday.
Al Lanjawi, after two rounds, topped the table with 60 points followed by Indonesia’s Aero Sultan Aswar on 53. Aswar’s compatriot Aqsa Sutan Aswar is third with 43. Mohammad is eighth with 30 points, three ahead of South Korea’s Kim Sungmin.
The director of the jet ski team, Ghanem Al Marri, said: “Our athletes did well and were impressive in all categories, and we urge them to continue their performance on Friday which is decisive for achieving medals.”
A lot was riding on the shoulders of Yousif Mirza in the men’s individual cycling road race but a 15km gruelling climb to finish in the 150km race proved to be a bit too much for the UAE Team Emirates rider.
Mirza, who had won the Asian Road Race Championship, stayed with the peloton for most part of the race that was led by reigning champion Jang Kung Gu of South Korea.
Mirza’s teammates Ahmad Al Mansouri, Mohammad Al Mansouri and Saif Al Kaabi gave good support but it wasn’t good enough to set up a strong challenge for gold.
They all had clearly ran out of gas by the time the real challenge was about to begin. In the end, Mirza was left to do all the hard work on his own against the likes of strong Kazakhstan rider Alexey Lutsenko,. Lutsenko went on to take gold by winning the contest in a sensational sprint finish ahead of Japan’s Beppu Fumiyuki and Thailand’s Navuti Liphongyu. Mirza crossed the line 23rd – three minutes and 45 seconds adrift from the winning pack.
In the double trap men’s shooting, Khaled Al Kaabi made it through to the final six for the medals round. However, the 30-year-old failed to hold his nerve missed six shots from his 30 to finish in sixth place.