Doha, April 24, 2019: Salwa Naser’s astonishing last 4X400m leg was the cherry on the cake of a dazzling Asian Athletics Championships where 15 championships records were broken and nine world leads were made in the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha.
Naser swept the gold medals almost in every event is entered, winning a total of four. On Day 4 she was victorious in the 200m with a new Championships record of 22.74 but the performance that really caught the eye was her unbelievable lap in the 4X400m relay.
Naser took the baton way back in fourth place trailing some 20m behind, nevertheless she managed to anchor her team to the gold medal position powering past India, Japan and Sri Lanka in the end.
Qatar’s Abderahman Samba tried to emulate Naser’s feat a few minutes later but the gap was too big to bridge. Gold went to Japan with a time of 3:02.94, silver to China with a new national record of 3:03.55 and bronze to Qatar with a time of 3:03.95.
Host Qatar’s El-Seify lost to Olympic champion Dilshod Nazarov who happens to be Tajikistan Athletics Federation President as well. Nazarov threw 76.14 in his fifth attempt to win his 5th Asian title. However, Dilshod found in-stadium cold conditions not helping to get his rhythm in earlier round. Regarding the upcoming World Championships in Doha he said:
“I’ve won gold medals at Olympic Games and at continental level but I am still missing a World Championships win. Maybe I will do it in Doha.”
Ali changed his tactics after last night’s tricky heat when he hardly made it to the final and instead of leading the race he was waiting until the last metres to make his move. He came close to win but in the end he lost to Bahrain’s Abrahma Kipchirchir Rotich who finished in 3:42.85 and India’s 2017 champion Ajay Kumar Saroj who was given the same time as Ali.
Bahrain’s fourth gold medal of the day and eleventh in total, a sum that brought them in first place overall, was courtesy of Birhanu Balew and came after an epic battle between him and compatriot Albert Rop which came down to the wire.
Six laps before the end the two Bahrainis made a breakaway with a decisive kick. With their opponents struggling to follow their pace Balew and Rop fought for gold till the final metres, with the former being the fastest in the end with 13:37.42.
The women’s 1500m race was a cracker as well with India’s Chitra Palakeezhunnikirshnan successfully defending her title clocking 4:14.56 although he had to overcome the strong resistance of Bahrain’s formidable duo of 3000m steeplechase and 5000m champion Winfred Yavi who finished third in 4:16.18 and Gashaw Tigest who was second in 4:14.81.
“I lost to the Bahrainis in Jakarta last year at the Asian Games, so today I got my ‘sweet revenge’. The race was slow but it doesn’t matter as long as I won,” Palakeezhunnikirshnan said minutes after her triumph.
In the high jump Majdeddin Ghazal finally made it to the top of the podium at Asian Championships after six unsuccessful attempts. The Syrian equalled the world lead with 2.31 punching his ticket for the World Championships and even tried to beat the national record by raising the bar at 2.37.
“I almost got out in 2.26 (cleared with his third attempt). I was feeling cold and had to enter in lower heights which I usually avoid.
“Gradually I found my rhythm and I believe I had good attempts at 2.35 and 2.37,” said Syria’s first gold medallist. Takashi Eto and Naoto Tobe of Japan were second and third with 2.29 and 2.26 respectively.
Chinese athletes added three more gold medals to their team’s tally for a total of nine and second place in the final standings.
Xie Wenjun was impressive in the 110m hurdles with a time of 13.21 breaking the previous championships record of 13.22 which belonged to his legendary countryman Liu Xiang.
“I am so excited. I trust I will further improve shortly,” stated the winner.
Unlike Xie Wenjun, another gold medal victor for China, Xie Zhenye, was not feeling content.
After winning his semi-final in 20.35 the day before, today he crossed the line in 20.33. Xie looked at the clock and grimaced with disappointment.
“I thought I could have been faster, but running against a headwind and having to overcome fatigue after two races yesterday pulled me back,” explained the new Asian champion.
Qatar’s former world finalist Femi Ogunode injured his hamstring while entering the home straight and abandoned his race.
In the women’s discus throw, Olympic and world finalist Feng Bin smashed the championships record with 65.36 to easily defeat fellow compatriot and defending champion Chen Yang, who threw 61.87.
“Chen is a great athlete. Competing against her lifts me up. Today, I wanted to throw beyond 67m. For the World Championships I will be content with a top-eight finish. Anything better will be a bonus.”
Japan finished on a high note as well. Besides gold in the men’s Mile relay, the Japanese won the Long Jump with 20-year-old Yuki Hashioka who bettered his personal best from 8.09 to 8.22.
Hashioka took the lead with his opening jump of 7.97, improved in round 3 to 8.08 and then fell behind Zhang Yaoguang who leaped 8.13 in his penultimate attempt. But the defiant young Japanese responded with a huge leap in the end. His attempt was measured 8.22 a new personal best.
“It’s a pity I didn’t break the national record (8.25) but I am sure I will do it this year. I believe I am capable of jumping close to 8.40.” claimed Hashioka one of the youngest members of the Japanese delegation.
Veteran Ayako Kimura, 31, came back on top of the Asian Championships six years after her first win. The experienced Japanese finished close to her personal best in 13.13 and now aims to meet the qualification standard (12.98) for the World Championships to return to Doha in September.
Nest Asian Athletics Championship will be held in Hangzhou (China) in 2021.
