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Qatar’s Samuel Adelebari Francis won the men’s 100m sprint clocking 10.31sec to provide the hosts with the second gold of the 18th Arab Athletics Championships here at the Qatar Sports Club yesterday. |
The silver went to Aziz Ouhadi of Morocco who clocked 10.38sec while Barakat al-Harthi of Oman claimed bronze with 10.45sec. The men’s 100m saw three false starts and that would have certainly upset the rhythm and taken away a lot of steam off the finalists, as they stopped only after reaching the half way mark.
Francis, wearing his trademark dark shades, however remained undeterred and kept his focus to power his way to the tape virtually unchallenged.
“There was a little pressure going into the finals knowing that I was the favourite. Of course, everyone wanted to beat me. My focus was to run with technique. I did exactly what I did during practice and happy to win in front of the home crowd,” said an elated Francis adding that, the three false starts were blessings in disguise for him. “I wasn’t ready in the first start but was ready in the second and third one. I then decided to just execute what I did during training and it worked,” said the 26-yr-old.
Despite this success, Francis will not be taking part in the 200m but will figure in the 4x100m relay.
“I have not fully recovered from the injury I suffered during the GCC Championship. My left knee still hurts a bit and so I will not be able to bend at the curve. I don’t want to take any risk so I will only run in the relay. I would have loved to run in the 200m as well, but unfortunately can’t,” said Francis, who had also won the gold in the GCC Athletic Championships last month.
Francis’ career has been plagued with a series of injuries and this success was big boost going into the Diamond League in Rome in two week’s time.
“Yes, I have been working very hard after been plagued with injuries for the last three years. Everyone had given up on me. I thank God for getting me back on track and back to winning ways. I would like to do well in Rome, then Ostrava and in the Asian Championships in India.”
Francis also went on to reveal that he was keen on setting faster times this season. “This was only my fifth race of the season. I know I have to improve on the timings and I’m working on it. The important thing is I’m injury free and getting back to where I was before the injury,” revealed Francis who has been training in California.
Another medal for Qatar came in the men’s hammer throw. Ashraf Amjad finished second behind Kuwait’s Ali Mohammed (74.28) with throw of 73.17. The bronze went to Mohammed Abdul Karim of Egypt, who managed 72.92.
“I’m extremely pleased to win the medal here. I would have loved to win a gold but couldn’t get my best throw. Still, it is a good performance and I’m heading in the right direction under my Russian coach,” said Amjad, who had also won gold in the GCC Athletics Championships last month.
The women’s 100m final was won by Soheir Bouali of Algeria with a timing of 11.95. The sliver was claimed by Dana Hussein of Iraq with 12.11. Morocco’s Yamna Hajazi claimed bronze with a timing of 12.15.
“I was not expecting to win gold but wanted to win a medal here. There were strong Iraqi and Moroccan athletes and so the competition was tough. To win gold from that field is simply exceptional. It was something unbelievable and I dedicate this medal to all Algerians,” said a beaming Bou Ali.
The second day’s action also saw two championship records being eclipsed. Yasmeena Amrai of Algeria set a new championship record accumulating a total 5,573 pts for gold in the women’s heptathlon. The previous record (5,571 pts) was held by another Algerian Yasmeena Azizi. The second championship record was broken by Saudi Arabia’s Yusif Masrahi, who clocked 44.72 to claim gold in the men’s 400m. Fouzi al-Shammari of Kuwait had held the previous record of 44.93.