Incheon: It was once again a case of so near, yet so far for the UAE cyclist Yousuf Al Hammadi as he missed out on a second bronze medal on the concluding day of road cycling for men at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games on Sunday.
Participating in the mass start road race that had attracted 48 riders from 26 countries at the Songdo Road Cycling Course on a cloudy Sunday, Al Hammadi managed to finish in fourth place after being pipped in a photo-finish by Hong Kong China’s Leung Chun Wing.
This was the second heartbreak for the 25-year-old Al Hammadi at these Asian Games. Earlier this week, the UAE cyclist won both the long distance races of the six-round men’s Omnium event during track racing to assert his superiority as one of Asia’s top distance cyclists. However, he missed out on a bronze medal when he fell short by a mere four points in the end.
On Sunday, run over 13 laps totalling 182km, Al Hammadi stuck to his task of being part of the main front group throughout the race. With five laps remaining, Al Hammadi managed to climb his way into seventh and then later into fifth place in the initial pack of 15, some of who are professional riders in top European cycling teams such as Astana and Team Lotto.
With eight riders in the reckoning for a medal, Al Hammadi came up with a final dash, but fell short of the bronze by a whisker as all eight riders finished with an identical time of 4 hours, 07.52 minutes. Jang Kyun-ggu of the host nation took gold and Iran’s Arvin Godarzi Moazami claimed silver, while Hong Kong rider Leung Chun Wing took the bronze.
‘Disappointed’
“I am disappointed with the fact that we have to go back without a medal. We did our best for a medal, but our best was not good enough,” Al Hammadi told Gulf News.
“But at least we know where we stand as riders and what we need to do to take the next step,” he added.
There was further disappointment for the UAE in the horse jumping competition as last time’s silver medallist Shaikha Latifa Al Maktoum could not replicate her performance of 2010 when she led the UAE team to a silver medal. Qatar won the team gold, Saudi Arabia took the silver and Japan finished with the bronze as the UAE found just two team penalty points separating them from the third place and a bronze medal.
In the individual competition, Mohammad Al Owais kept himself in the frame for a possible medal when competition resumes on Tuesday. Al Owais was among the qualifiers with a total penalty of one point. Ahead of the UAE rider was a host of six others all with zero penalty points.
The other two UAE riders who qualified for Tuesday’s final stage are Shaikha Latifa (with 4 penalty points) and Abdullah Mohammad Al Merri (with 9 penalty points). Muftah Al Daheri is the only one who did not advance for the final day of the equestrian competition.
Meanwhile, the UAE handball team took 13th place in the 16-team competition with a 32-25 win over India at the Seonhak Handball Gymnasium earlier in the morning.
Leading 17-13 at half-time, the UAE had Shehab Al Baloushi top-scoring with three goals. India tried to fight back, but the UAE caught the Indians napping on fast breaks to emerge easy winners and conclude the competition with the 13th position.
