Haydar and Haroun add more glitter to Qatar's medal rush
DOHA, February 3, 2018 - Qatar's medal rush continued for the second day running at the 8th Asian Indoor Athletics Championships at the Aftab-e Enqelab Sports Complex in Tehran, Iran, on Friday when they bagged three medals taking the country's medals tally so far to seven.
The stars of the day were Abubaker Haydar Abdalla and Abdalelah Haroun who pocketed gold medals in the 800m and 400m races. The third podium finisher for Qatar was Mohammed Nasser, who won the bronze in 400m.
With a timing of 1.52.98, Hayder pipped Yervali Pejman of hosts Iran to the finish line. Pejman took the silver (1.52.80) while Kuwait's Alzofairi Ebrahim (1.52.97) settled for the bronze.
Haroun emerged victorious in the 400m race with a timing of 46.37 while Nasser came in third in 46.76. Haroun however couldn't match or better his timing of 45.39 which he achieved in Stockholm, Sweden in 2015. The silver medal went to Karam Yousef (46.66).
On the opening day too on Thursday, Qatari athletes were in the limelight winning four medals. Continuing his global dominance in the discipline, star high jumper Mutaz Essa Barshim delivered his fifth consecutive Asian Indoor title at the same venue where he had won his first title in 2010. He also set a new championship record of 2.38m and world leading mark in his season opener.
"It's the second time I'm in Iran and Iran is a good place. I'm happy to win the gold medal, it's a very good feeling," Barshim said in an interview to Athletics Federation of Iran."I hope in the future I set higher records, God willing," he added.
Dr Thani al Kuwari, President of the Qatar Athletics Federation, congratulated the medal winners for the country and praised their dedication. He stressed that the achievements of the promising young generation of athletes were the fruit of the support of Qatar's wise leadership who spare no effort to provide all the support for their success.
Mohammed al Fadala, Secretary-General of the Qatar Athletics Federation, said the Qatar athletes' participation in the tournament is part of Qatar's plans to prepare for the upcoming events, most notably the Muller Grand Prix in Birmingham, England in August. The three-day championship ends on Saturday.
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