Iran, India hit golden patch in Asia-Oceania meet

Dubai - Hammadi, Alshehhi and Aldhaheri power UAE with gold, silver

Iran and India occupied first and second spots after two days of fierce competition at the 2016 IPC Athletics Asia-Oceania Championships at the Police Officers' Club stadium, Dubai, Tuesday night.
A brilliant three-gold run saw Iran's collection bulge to six, while India came back strongly late in the day to push their tally to three gold medals. Japan, China and the UAE fall in line next, also with three golds each but they have an inferior standing based on the silvers and bronzes accumulated compared to India.
UAE stalwarts Mohamed Hammadi (T34), and T54 experts Salem Alshehhi and Rashed Aldhaheri gave the home supporters plenty to cheer with golds and silver in the men's 800 metres and 100m respectively on the third day.
The first gold medal of the day went to Saudi Arabia's Fahad Alganaidl in the men's 100m T53 as the 31-year-old finished powerfully in 15.31, while Iran's Ahmad Ojaghlou (T46) looked equally strong in the men's 200mT47, clocking 22.58 for gold.
Iran's golden show continued when Hamed Amiri (F54) won the men's javelin F53/54 with a best of 24.10 metres in the final attempt. World finalist Marziyeh Sedghi Saghinsara (F54) (Iran) clinched gold in the women's shot put F52-55, throwing a best of 6.53m (833 points). Iran also secured the top two spots in the women's javelin F34 when Maryam Soltani won the top podium spot with a second round best of 16.21m. Her compatriot Faezeh Kermani finished over two metres behind for silver.
After a moderate beginning, India's Prasanna Kumar (F42) finished strongly for gold in the men's javelin F42/44 with a penultimate throw of 46.59m (876 points), just ahead of Indonesia's Yohanes Bili (F44) (50.35m / 866 points).
India added one more gold late into the day's programme when world silver medallist Devendra, won the men's javelin F46 with a best of 55.35m, a clear 10 metres distance away from his rivals.
Thirty seven-year old Kumar, a Karnataka Ministry of Education coordinator in Bengaluru, told Khaleej Times: "The Raaza formatted point system here helps the different kinds and degrees of physical disablement each one has. At the Paralympics in Rio the open system works where they go fully by the distances and times achieved, thus giving some athletes like me and others a big disadvantage.
"Rio will be tough though not an impossible destination for a medal," he added, "We have to be realistic in our pre-event assessments too but the experience gained will be invaluable. Our standards overall are good with most of the athletes from India here having already made it to the big showdown later this year."
Hammadi, who won gold over 200m on Monday clinched the 800m T34 on Tuesday with ease. The world silver medallist built up a big lead before finishing in 1 minute and 56.91 seconds after doing an impressive 59.56sec in lap one.
"I'm constantly trying to iron out the shortcomings in my work and I am also trying out equipment better suited for me," Hammadi who is also competing in the 100m and 400m T34 this week, told Khaleej Times.
"Today's (Tuesday) gold medal effort was not about timings. After returning from London a couple of days ago, I am waiting for a new chair to arrive so that I get better prepared for Rio. Of course, there's a lot of gym workouts as well to go along."
Others hitting the golden path Tuesday evening/night were Japan's Keiko Konishi (T53) in the women's 100m T54 in a time of 18.28 seconds; Thailand's Suphachai Songphinit (T11) and his guide Wanchai Khaodee in the men's 400m T12 in 55.14sec; and China's Daqing Zhu who hit the tape first in 59.37sec in the women's 400m T12.
Also standing tall were Malaysia's Asian record holder Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli in the men's shot putF20; Indonesia's Asian Para Games bronze medallist Alan Sastra in the discus F57; and Indonesia's Setiyo Budi Hartanto in the men's long jump T47. Kuwait won their first gold when Dhari Buti (F37) dictated terms in the men's shot putF37/38.
moni@khaleejtimes.com