Qatar’s Musaeb Abdulrahman Balla (No 394) in action during the men’s 800m race of the 18th Arab Athletic Championships at Qatar Sports Club yesterday.

By ND Prashant/Doha

Hosts Qatar finished on a high on the final day of the 18th Arab Athletic Championships by adding two more golds, a silver and a bronze at the Qatar Sports Club yesterday.

Musaeb Abdulrahman Balla dominated the men’s 800m from start to finish, winning a gold comfortably clocking 1:45.90 ahead of Ibrahim Utashi of Bahrain (1:46.52) and Abdulaziz Ladan Mohammed of Saudi Arabia (1:46.70).

Later, Balla was also instrumental in providing Qatar with another medal, this time a silver with another scintillating run in the men’s 4x400m relay teaming up with Hassan Amman, Jamal Abdul Nasser, Jamal Heran. The gold was bagged by team Saudi Arabia while the bronze went to Algeria.

“The timing in the 800m was nowhere close to my personal best but thank God, I still won in front of the home crowd. The silver in the relay was also a sign that I’m doing pretty well,” said a jubilant Balla adding, he had put in lot of effort in the training.

“I have been working really hard ahead of the Diamond League here in Doha and even after that. Therefore, I was confident going into this event. I’m already thinking about my next races but first, I will have to speak to my coach. I’m surely going to participate in the Asian Champions and would like to do well there.”

Later in the evening, Rashid Shafi al-Dossari provided Qatar with the second gold by winning the men’s Discus Throw clearing 61.91m. The silver was claimed by al-Dossari’s compatriot Ahmed Mohammed Deeb with 60.46, while Musab al-Momani of Jordan went on to bag bronze with 60.13.

“I’m very happy because I have come back from an injury. To win here means that I have improved on my fitness. I did well in the GCC event here as well. I’m also very happy for Ahmed, who won silver as he too has been working very hard. Hopefully, we both can put up a good show in the Asian Championship in India,” said an overjoyed al-Dossari.

The bronze for Qatar came in the men’s 400m hurdles, thanks to a spirited effort by Jamal Abdul Nasser (51.12). The gold went to Milood Rehmani of Algeria with 50.52, while Mohammed al-Sagir of Tunisia won bronze.

Iraq’s Dana Hussein Abdulrazak stole the show in the women’s 200m by stunning a strong field of sprinters from Morocco and Lebanon with a timing of 23.83.

The Iraqi ace thus avenged her 100m loss on Friday to Algeria’s Soheir Bouali. Yesterday, Bouali (23.91) had to play second fiddle to Abdulrazak and had to be content with silver. The bronze went to Garita Tasliqiyan of Lebanon with 24.21.

“I’m extremely pleased to have beaten some of the best here. I had trained really hard for the win. In fact, it was sweet revenge for me after failing to win gold in the 100m. I managed to beat Bouali so I’m thrilled,” said an elated Abdulrazak adding that, her preferred event was the 100m.

“I like 100m more than the 200m but now I will also concentrate on the latter. This win is a big boost ahead of the Asian Championships in India. I hope I can qualify from there for the World Championships in Moscow,” revealed Abdulrazak, a bronze medallist in the 100m at the Asian Athletics Grand Prix in Thailand earlier this year.

RESULTS

All finals

Women’s Shot Put: 1. Fadia Saad (Egy) 14.05, 2. Noora Jassim (Bah) 13.80, 3. Ilham al-Sayed  Wahba (Egy) 13.35; Women’s 200m: 1. Dana Hussein Abdulrazak (Irq) 23.83, 2. Soheir Bouali (Alg) 23.91, 3. Garita Tasliqiyan (Leb) 24.21; Men’s 400m hurdles: 1. Milood Rehmani (Alg) 50.52, 2. Mohammed al-Sagir (Tun) 50.94, 3. Jamal Abdul Nasser (Qat) 51.12; Men’s Javelin Throw: 1. Ahmed Sabir (Egy) 61.36, 2. Hussein al-Fazli (Oma) 56.21, 3. Hashim Nazaar (Ksa); 800m men: 1. Musab Abdurrahman Balla (Qat) 1:45.90, 2. Ibrahim Utashi (Bah) 1:46.52, 3rd Abdul Aziz Ladan (Ksa) 1:46.70; Men’s Long Jump: Hussein Tahir (Ksa) 7.99, 2. Mohamed Fateh (Egy) 7.85, 3. Ahmed Faiz (Ksa) 7.82;

Men’s 200m: 1. Aziz Ahadi (Mar) 20.46, 2. Fahad al-Subahey (Ksa) 20.55, 3. Mohammed al-Sayed (Egy) 20.81;

5000m men: 1. Albert Roub (Bah) 13:52.54, 2. Zelalim Bahsha (Bah) 13:57.17, 3. Momin Geela (Dji) 14:08.62;

Men’s Discus Throw: 1. Rashid Shafi al-Dossari  (Qat) 61.91, 2. Ahmed Mohammed Deeb (Qat)  60.46, 3. Musab
al-Mumani (Jor) 60.13;

Women’s 1500m: 1. Rubab Arafi (Mar) 4:53.92, Memi Baliti (Bah) 4:55.19, 3. Ilham Betlam (Uae) 4:55.23; Women’s Long Jump: 1. Baiya Rahooli (Alg) 14.29, 2. Shenak Jumma (Mar) 13.63, 3. Jihad Bakshi (Mar) 13.23; Women’s 4x400 Relay: 1. Morocco (Haya al-Mubaraki, Rebab Aarafi, Lamiya Lebaz, Hasna Garavi) 3:42.10, 2. Sudan (Tasabi Mohammed, Alviya Makki, Hajir Saeed, Nawal al-Jak) 3:45.30, 3. Iraq (Hadeel Rahim, Zina Hamid, Shamam Samad, Dana Hussein) 4:02.62; Men’s 4x400 Relay: Saudi Arabia (Ismail al- Subyani, Mohammed Ali, Mohammed Eid, Yusif Masrahi) 3:06.23, 2. Qatar (Hassan Amman, Jamal Abdul Nasser, Jamal Heran, Musab Abdurrahman Balla) 3:09.55), 3. Algeria (Sagyan Bohoda, Khalid bin Mehadi, Milood Laraj, Milood Rehmani) 3:11.02.

 

 

BELOW:

1) Qatar’s Rashid Shafi al-Dossari (centre) and Ahmed Mohammed Deeb (left) celebrate at the podium after winning gold and silver medals, respectively in discus throw.

 

2) Iraq’s Dana Hussein Abdulrazak celebrates after winning in women’s 200m yesterday.