Bassem Hemeida in action during the men's 400 metres hurdles semi-final.
Doha, Qatar: The Asian Games brought a painful twist for Qatar yesterday as two of its biggest gold medal hopes in athletics were forced out by injuries, with Mutaz Barshim and Abderrahman Samba seeing their campaigns cut short in Aichi-Nagoya.
Barshim, the three-time Asian Games high jump champion, was ruled out of the final, while Samba did not finish the 400m hurdles semi-finals after sustaining an injury.
For athletes who have built a golden history at the Games, their withdrawals came as a major setback to Qatar’s medal hopes.
The Qatar Athletics Federation (QAF) confirmed Barshim’s withdrawal in a post on its official account, saying an injury had ruled the champion out of the high jump final.
“Get well soon, champ... we wish you a speedy recovery and a stronger comeback, God willing,” the federation added.
Barshim had been chasing a fourth Asian Games gold after winning at Guangzhou 2010, Incheon 2014 and Hangzhou 2022. He missed Jakarta 2018 because of injury, making yesterday’s setback another frustrating chapter in his Asian Games career.
Taiwan’s Fu Chao-hsuan claimed gold medal with a jump of 2.25m with Republic of Korea’s Sanghyeok Woo (2.22m) settling for a silver. Japan’s Hirokazu Sakai (2.18m) took the bronze medal.
Samba’s withdrawal was another injury blow for Qatar on the track. The QAF confirmed that the 400m hurdles star had sustained an injury.
“Wishing you a speedy recovery, champ,” the federation said.
Samba was one of Qatar’s leading medal hopes after teaming up with Bassem Hemeida for a memorable one-two in the 400m hurdles at Hangzhou.
With Samba out, Hemeida carried Qatar’s hopes into today’s final.
Hemeida won his semi-final in 49.55 seconds yesterday to book his place in the medal race, keeping Qatar in contention.
Abubaker Abdalla and Hatem Hameed also qualified for the 800m final.
Omar Dawood, meanwhile, finished fifth in the 110m hurdles final in 13.67 seconds after clocking 13.63 to finish second in his semi-final.
Ibrahim Abbas and Mohammed Waheed will compete in today’s 1500m final.
Away from athletics, Qatar’s defending handball champions are now one win away from another the final.
Qatar face the Republic of Korea today in the semi-finals after overcoming Iran 31-25 in the quarter-finals.
Japan face Bahrain in the other semi-final while the final is scheduled for tomorrow.
Qatar are chasing a fourth successive gold after winning the title at Incheon 2014, Jakarta 2018 and Hangzhou 2022.
Cherif, Tijan keep gold defence on track
Qatar’s beach volleyball stars Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan kept their gold-medal defence on track, beating Oman’s Hood Al Jalaboubi and Mazin Al Hashimi 2-0 to top Group A.
Qatar’s Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan kept their beach volleyball gold-medal defence on track, beating their Omani counterparts 2-0 to top Group A.
The Qatari pair won 21-19 and 21-19 and will face Vietnam pair in Round of 16 clash tomorrow.
Cherif said the Oman match had been a tough test and welcomed the experience ahead of the knockout stage.
“The Round of 16 leaves no room for error; we are aiming to defeat Vietnam to advance and continue our journey in the tournament,” Cherif said.
He also stressed the importance of his partnership with Tijan as the pair target another Asian Games title.
“The chemistry with my partner, Ahmed Tijan, is a key factor in our success,” he said, while adding that the duo entered the knockout stages with high ambitions and a clear goal of contending for gold.
Qatar 2, comprising Moussa Al-Khayr and Ihab Mohamed, will meet Chinese duo in the Round of 16.
On the volleyball court, Qatar made a winning start by beating Hong Kong China 3-1 in their opening Group C match.
Qatar took the first set 25-20 before Hong Kong levelled with a 26-24 win in the second. Qatar responded by taking the third set 25-20 and fourth 25-21.
They face Vietnam today, eyeing a second straight win.
Today will also see Qatar begin their padel campaign with two pairs.
Mohammed Saadoun Al-Kuwari and Hassan Wali, representing Qatar 1, face Kazakhstan pair, while Qatar 2’s Mishari Nawaf and Rashid Nawaf take on a Kuwaiti duo.
Fares Ibrahim returns to Asian Games stage
Fares Ibrahim returns to action today as Qatar’s weightlifting campaign gets underway.
The Tokyo Olympic champion will compete in men’s 95kg final which will see a total of eight athletes in action.
Fares won silver in the 94kg category at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games with a total of 381kg, including 166kg in the snatch and 215kg in the clean and jerk. He also set a world record at the time.
The silver was followed by the biggest achievement of his career as he won Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020, establishing himself among the leading figures in Qatari and Asian weightlifting.
Now back on the Asian Games stage, Fares will look to produce another strong performance in Aichi-Nagoya.
