DUBAI, 24nd March 2017:UAE stars sparkled on the penultimate day of the 9th Fazza World Para Athletics Championship – Dubai 2017 winning two gold medals and setting two Asian records in the new Dubai Club for the Disabled stadium on Wednesday 22nd March.
The host nation increased their tally of medals to 19 after bagging seven more medals, including one silver and four bronze medals, on another record-breaking day which saw one world record, one African, three Asian records and one Oceania record being set on the third day of the competition increasing the total number of records in the Dubai championship to 20.
Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council (DSC), the season-opening World Para Athletics Dubai Grand Prix which has attracted 386 athletes from 41 countries, is being organized and supervised by the Dubai Club for the Disabled with the support of their strategic partners Dubai Sports Council, World Para Athletics Sports Technical Committee of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the General Authority for Youth and Sports Welfare (GAYSW), and the UAE Paralympic Committee.
Hosts UAE have the largest number of 48 athletes from among the 41 countries namely Algeria, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Bahrain, Czech Republic, Egypt, Fiji, Zambia, Britain, Germany, Greece, India, Iran, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Latvia, Libya, Moldova, Macedonia, Namibia, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Samoa, Singapore, Switzerland, Slovakia, Sweden, Tonga, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey and Uzbekistan.
Gold medals
UAE won two gold medals on Wednesday through Abdullah Hayayei and Mohammad Al Wahdani, Abdullah Al Mesbahi got a silver while Abbad Ali, Adel Murad, Mariam Matroushi and Noura Al Ketbi clinched bronze medals.
Noura Al Ketbi set a new F32 Asian record of 17.99 meters in the club 397g women’s category while her compatriot Siham Al Rasheedy set a new mark of 25.70 meters in the F57 discus wheelchair women despite missing out on a podium position in the F56/57 final.
Double
Al Wahdani completed the ‘double’ when he stopped the clock at 14.54 seconds in the 100m wheelchair men’s T54 wheelchair race to add to his triumph in the 200m event over Swiss great Marcel Hug. Japan’s Tomoki Ikoma (14.66) took the silver pushing Hug (14.71) into third place. UAE wheelchair racers Adil Belooshi (15.20, Salem Al Shehhi (15.41) and Fahad Mohammad (15.57) finished among the top 10.
Al Wahdani was overjoyed after his double triumph following his comeback from injury which forced to miss Rio 2016 after having represented UAE in London 2012.
“The worth of these two medals is even more because it came in the new stadium of the Dubai Club for the Disabled. After winning international titles, my confidence and ambitions are growing. I’m determined to qualify for the World Championships in London while my long-term goal is Tokyo 2020 Paralympics,” said Al Wahdani.
There was a double podium triumph for UAE in the discus wheelchair men’s F34/54 final when Abdullah Hayayei clinched UAE’s sixth gold medal of the championship with a best throw of 28.52 meters while Abdullah Al Mesbahi won the silver medal with his first throw of 20.41 meters. The duo beat Azerbaijan’s Elvin Astanov (20.12m). This was Hayayei’s second medal having clinched the bronze medal in the shot put wheelchair men’s F34/57 event on the first day.
Adel Murad claimed the bronze medal in the men’s discus F40/41/42 final with a throw of 15.60 meters. Sweden’s Mohammed Al Joburi (37.55m) clinched the gold medal while Kuwait’s Abdullah Al Saif (17.89m) took the silver.
Maryam Al Matroushi clinched her second bronze when she with a throw of 9.80 meters in the women’s shot put F11-13/35-38/40 final won by Japan’s Yukiko Kato (12.17m). Czech Republic’s Eva Berna (10.96m) took the silver.
Asian record
Noura Al Ketbi also won her second bronze medal and set a new Asian mark of 17.99 meters in the club 397g women’s F32/51 final which was won by Algeria’s Mounia Gasmi (25.85m). Great Britain’s Kylie Grimes (18.57m) took the silver. Noura’s compatriots Sara Al Qubaisi (16.82m), Zenab Al Braiki (14.67m) and Thekra Al Kaabi (10.38m) also finished among the top 10 in this hotly contested event.
World record
Algeria’s Nadia Medjmedj won the discus wheelchair women’s F56/57 final with F56 world record throw of 26.17 meters.
The 43-year-old, who won shot put and javelin bronze at last year’s Paralympic Games, added 1.50m on to the previous mark which had stood since 2003.
Her compatriot Nassima Saifi (34.55m) took silver ahead of Ireland’s Orla Barry (29.74m).
Asian mark
UAE’s F57 thrower 57 Siham Al Rasheedy set a new Asian mark of 25.70m to be placed sixth.
Siham’s team mate Sara Saleh Al Kaabi (14.64m) also finished among the top 10.
India's discus thrower Ekta Bhyan set an F51 Asian record of 16.63m though missing out the podium after placing fourth.
Mohammad Othman emerged winner in the race for UAE juniors in the 100m wheelchair T34 event clocking 19.25 seconds. Ahmed Jasem (19.35) came second while Majed Al Qassab (30.02) finished in third place.
Regional dominance
Para athletes from regional countries continued to reap medals in the Fazza World Para Athletics Dubai Grand Prix.
Rio silver medallist Egypt’s Mostafa Mohamed won in the 100m T37/38 clocking 12.14 as regional athletes continued to flourish in Dubai even as Great Britain scorched the new track at Dubai Club for the Disabled Stadium.
The win in Dubai has rekindled the ambitions of Mostafa hailing the Fazza championship.
“This annual tournament in an Arab country helps us to participate and qualify for a place in the London World Championship. Having won a silver medal in Rio, I hope the medal in Dubai will inspire me to achieve more success in future competitions,” he said.
Track
Great Britain’s world and Paralympic 100m T38 champion Sophie Hahn completed the sprint double in the 100m T37/38 – her time of 12.87 just 0.27 seconds outside her own world record mark.
Fellow Briton Maria Lyle (T35) was the runaway winner in the 100m T35/36/42 – the 17-year-old Paralympic bronze medallist finishing in 14.38, more than two seconds clear of the field.
Paul Blake (T36) and Jordan Howe (T35) took the top two spots in the 100m T35/36/42, clocking 12.56 and 12.75 respectively; Zachary Shaw, 21, finished fastest in the men’s 100m T12 with a time of 11.32.
There were wins too for fellow Brits James Arnott (T46) in the 100m T43-47 (11.45) and Craig Boardman in the 100m T34 (15.72).
In other 100m events, Namibia’s Paralympic bronze medallist Ananias Shikongo (11.45) won the T11 race; Azerbaijan’s T13 sprinter Zeynal Miskarli (11.61) won the 100m T13/20; Swiss T52 wheelchair racer and five-time Paralympian Beat Boesch (18.22) won the T51/52 race and Saudi Arabian T53 Para athlete Fahad Alganaidl (15.31) won the 100m T33/53.
Super
In the women’s races Japan’s Saki Takakuwa (T44) won the 100m T44/47 (13.52) and Germany’s Janne Sophie Engeleiter (T13) won the 100m T12/13 (13.16) avenging her loss to Swede Nathilie Nilsson in the 200m race.
“Dubai is a good track. I like this surface. I love super X tracks,” said Saki, who has competed in London and Rio but is participating in Dubai for the first time.
“I’m enjoying in Dubai. It is a very good place. I want to come back to Dubai as a tourist,” a 28-year-old office worker from Tokyo.
Nilsson also expressed similar sentiments on her maiden visit and was eagerly looking forward to scale the tallest tower in the world Burj Khalifa.
“This is my first time. I like it so much. I want to come back as a tourist. I’m going up in tallest tower and do little shopping for friends, my mother and father. It’s so nice to be here,” said Nilsson, a teacher of Down Syndrome children who is making a comeback after a long layoff from injury after having competed in Beijing 2008.
Middle distance
In the middle distance races, Swiss 'Silver Bullet' Marcel Hug notched up his third track victory of the year as he stopped the clock in 3:05.48, just 0.12 seconds ahead of Japan’s Masayuki Higuchi. Sho Watanabe, who beat Hug to the Tokyo marathon title in February, was third in 3:06.34.
Japan’s Paralympic silver medallist Tomoki Sato (3:54.00) made it two wins out of two as he added 1,500m T52 victory to his win over one lap a day earlier.
Kenyan Wesley Sang also secured double victory in Dubai. The T46 runner finished well clear of the field in the 1,500m T20/37/46, clocking 4:10.60, two days after winning the 800m T44/46.
It was a similar winning result for Muhsine Gezer, Turkey’s talented 13-year-old T20 runner. Winner over 800m on Monday (20th March), the teenager got the better of a strong field including Kenya’s experienced Paralympic 1,500m T11 silver medallist, Nancy Koech. Gezer stopped the clock at 5:13.08 in the women’s 1,500m T11/13/20.
Another Kenyan distance star beaten to the line in Dubai was Paralympic bronze medallist Henry Kirwa, who lost out to Algeria’s Fouad Baka – brother of Paralympic champion Abdellatif – in the men’s 1,500m T11/12/13.
Baka, who finished just outside the medals at Rio 2016, crossed the line in 4:09.37 with Kirwa second in 4:14.15.
Nigerian wheelchair racer Hannah Babalola continued to dominate the women’s T54 events as she notched up her fifth gold medal in Dubai, adding to her 200m, 400m and 800m wins with victory in the 100m T34/53/54 (16.97) before ending the day as champion in the 1,500m T54 (3:53.60) too.
Paralympic silver medallist Kamel Kardjena of Algeria defeated by Germany’s Daniel Scheil in the shot put F33 at Rio 2016, Kwon the event at the Dubai Grand Prix, getting the better of his two main rivals Scheil and Saudia Arabia’s Hani Alnakhli.
Joy
There was further joy for Algeria as Paralympic silver medallist Lahouari Bahlaz’s third round effort of 8.92m in the men’s shot put F32 was enough to take the win ahead of his teammate, two-time former Paralympic champion Karim Betina (8.82m).
The men’s long jump T42-47 was won by Japan’s Ashida Hajimu (T47) with a leap of 6.82m (935 points) – his countryman, the reigning T42 world champion Atsushi Yamamoto, managed a best of 6.11m for second place.
Kazakhstan’s Islam Salimov (T13) leapt 6.63m (880 points) to take the win in the men’s long jump T11/12/13 event.
Yaser Abdelaziz Elsayed (F55) added to Egypt’s success as he finished well clear of the field in the javelin F55/56 after a third round effort of 30.22m and the javelin F12/13/35/38 gold went to world javelin F38 bronze medallist Petr Vratil of the Czech Republic thanks to his second round effort of 40.46m (749 points).
In the women’s shot put F11-13/35-38/40 Japan’s Yukiko Kato took the win – her best of 12.17m (984 points) over a metre clear of the field. Naibil Vatunisolo of Fiji threw a new F42 Oceania record of 5.85m.
Uzbekistani Natalya Semyonova (F55) threw 16.81m (857 points) to win the women’s javelin F52/53/54/55.