Hammadi takes off in superb fashion

Dubai - Two records fall on opening day at IPC Asia-Oceania athletics

The UAE's Mohammed Hammadi won gold in the 200 metres T34 sprint event at the International Paralympics Committee (IPC) Athletics Asia-Oceania Championships, Monday night.
The second medal for the UAE on the opening day went to Saeed Mubarak (F36) (607 points) in the men's shot put F35/36 where Iranian ace Seyed Javanmardi (F35) dominated with a 13.21m (865 points) best throw. Jabbar Al Azzawi (F35) (673 points) took silver ahead of bronze medallist Mubarak.
The UAE's third medal was another bronze. Saudi Arabia's Paralympic silver medallist and world record holder Hani Alnakhli (F33) topped the podium in the men's discus throw F33/34 ahead of Qatar's Abdulrahman Abdulrahman and the UAE's Ahmed Alhousani.
On his way to gold in 29.31 seconds in a highly competitive field that included arch rivals Ahmad Almutairi (T33) of Kuwait and Qatari ace Mohammed Al Kubaisi (T34), 30-year old Hammadi showed why he is considered one of the main contenders at the Rio Paralympic Games soon after the Olympics this year. Almutairi and Al Kubaisi finished in silver and bronze berths.
"In Rio I will be concentrating on my pet events - 100m and 800m. Tonight (Monday) was a big warmup after not competing on the international stage for quite some time," Hammdai said, "The chair, the wheels, well some changes were made. It was a great opportunity to get things in line before Rio."
Hammadi now will be eyeing for more gold in the 100m, 400m and 800m T34 in Dubai this week.
Two Asian records fell on the opening day. First it was Sri Lankan army commander Anil Prasanna Jayalath who won gold in the men's 200m T42 in 25.11, lowering his own previous Asian record mark by 0.76 seconds. The 30-year-old, had won the 200m T42 gold at the 2014 Asian Para Games in Incheon, South Korea.
"A great beginning I must say having the chance to compete months earlier to the Rio Paralympics and win gold in the process," Jayalath told reporters, "My next target is 24.5 which is within reach before the trip to Brazil."
T42 long jump specialist Atsushi Yamamoto of Japan, the London 2012 finalist settled for silver in 26.83s as Jayalath's compatriot Buddika Indrapala claimed bronze with a time of 27.50s.
Be Hau Nguyen gave Vietnam their first medal of the championships and an Asian record as well, in the men's shot put F55/56. The 28-year-old added eight centimetres on to the Asian record with a throw of 10.18m (780 points) in the second round. Silver went to Mongolia's Sambuudanzan Ganzorig with a best of 9.13m (610 points) while Iran's Parviz Golpasandhagh took bronze (576 points).
It was a 1-2-3 for Japan in the men's 1,500m T20 as Daisuke Nakagawa led the way home in 4 minutes and 8.03 seconds.
World 5,000m champion, Nakagawa, kept his early stage commanding lead intact win gold ahead of Yusuke Yamanouchi and Yuya Kimura.
Nakagawa, a Mitsubishi Motors paint specialist, told Khaleej Times: "Rio is still some time away. To qualify here was tough as the Asian standard in this event is still behind world standards. The track and facilities in Dubai are of a very high order."
India's Manoj Baskar won the men's 200m T44 as he dipped at the finishing line in 24.90, just 0.04 seconds ahead of compatriot Anandan Gunasekaran who won silver.
China's Ming Xin took gold in the men's 100m T35, crossing the line in 15.70. Malaysia's reigning world and Asian Para Games champion, 18-year-old Abdul Latif Romly took the top spot in the men's long jump T20 while Iraq took gold and silver in the men's javelin F40/41 as Paralympic silver medallist Ahmed Naas (F40) threw a best of 35.75m (1017 points) for gold.
moni@khaleejtimes.com