Sharjah schoolboy tops in IPC Athletics Asia-Oceania Championships

Dubai - China get into gold rush, move into second spot behind Iran in medals tally

 UAE stars Mohamed Hammadi and Salem Alshehhi continued with their good work when they won the men's 400m T34 and 200m T54 on Day 4 of the IPC Athletics Asia-Oceania Championships at the Dubai Police Officers' Club in Jadaf.
The Sharjah Al Thiqqa Club products kept the UAE campaign in high gear with flawless performances on the tracks on Thursday. For Hammadi it was a golden hat-trick in Dubai while for 17-year old schoolboy Alshehhi, the youngest participant in the Dubai meet, it meant a sprint double. The UAE's Rashed Aldhaheri and Japan's Yuki Nishi finished with silver and bronze behind Alshehhi.
Alshehhi told Khaleej Times: "I am very encouraged and thrilled that the improvement rate is getting bigger and bigger. I am quite happy with the equipment, and the preparations for the Rio Paralympics have taken off on the right note in this championships."
After enjoying moderate success on the first three days, China hit a golden trail on Thursday by moving up to second on the medals table behind Iran, who pocketed a further five titles on the fourth day.
After a superb showing on Day 1, Sri Lanka was back in the picture when their men's 4x100m T42-47 raced home in 45.42 seconds, while India after two solid shows on Day 2 and 3, won a solitary gold as Asian record holder Deepa Malik (F53) claimed gold in the women's javelin F53/54 with 8.98 metres.
Pakistan picked up their first gold medal of the meet when Haider Ali (T37) hit a distance of 6.25m (983 points) in the men's long jump T36-38.
Deepa, accompanied by her husband Colonel (retd) Bikram Singh Malik, is a veteran in para athletics with a world silver in the shot put in the New Zealand edition. "I have already made it to the Rio Paralympics in the shot put where one is allowed one event. The 37cm improvement in the shot put event during qualification last year is a massive jump and quite encouraging," Deepa told Khaleej Times on Thursday. "Para athletics has given me and my daughter who is also a keen participant, so many positives that keep us motivated throughout."
Iranian Ahmad Ojaghlou won the 100m T47 in 11.09 seconds - just 0.04 seconds outside of the Asian record. Iran secured another sprint gold on Thursday as Arash Khosravi cut the tape in the 100m T11 in a close finish, clocking 11.96. Later, Japan's Masaaki Konishi sprinted home to win the 100m T12, in of 11.70.
Juntingxian Jia kicked off China's gold medal rush as she held off her teammate Yan Chen to win the 100m T11 in 12.54. "I feel really good. Our goal is the Paralympic Games, and I am quite confident that we will do even better than in 2012," said Jia.
China's Daqing Zhu won the women's 100m T12 in 12.48. Zhu, who won 200m T12 bronze at London 2012, recently returned to the track after the birth of her daughter and knows that she is capable of going faster.
"I am back after giving birth and I'm yet not fully physically fit - my guide runner and I only started training two months ago," she said.
Wei Liu (China) stormed home to win the men's 100m T13 in 11.22 - just 0.03 seconds outside the Asian record, and Beijing 2008 champion Zhang Zhen topped the podium in the men's 1,500m T11, crossing the line in 4:17.97.
Chinese domination was also seen in the field events when Paralympic and world champion Liangmin Zhang (F11) took gold in the women's discus F11/12, and Dongquan An (F38) won the men's javelin F37/38 with a best of 44.88m (908 points).
Other winners in the long schedule for the evening and night were Japan's Keiko Konishi (T53) in the women's 200m T54; Iraq's Abbas Al Darraji (men's 400m T36/38); 18-year old Saud Alwani of Saudi Arabia in the men's 400m T37; Kuwait's Hamad Aladwani (men's 200m T53); Iran's Mehdi Alizadeh (F33), Hamed Amiri (F54) and Nour Mhammad Arekhi in the field events; Vietnam's Ngoc Hung Cao in the men's javelin F57; and Indonesia's Priyano Priyano (men's discus F46).
moni@khaleejtimes.com