Rising Qatari athlete Ismail Dawood Abakar yesterday stormed to victory in the men’s 400m hurdles to clinch his second gold medal at the Asian U-20 Athletics Championships underway in Yecheon, South Korea.
The 19-year-old clocked 49.30 secs – a championship record – to bag victory adding to his gold medal in the men’s 400m race on Sunday. Abakar outpaced Japan’s Ryoma Konno, who finished second with a time of 49.91 while Chung Wei Lin of Chinese Taipei claimed bronze medal after finishing the race in 50.16.
Another Qatari athlete competing in the event - Mahamat Abakar Abdrahman – finished eighth with a time of 52.79.
Abakar’s second gold medal in Yecheon helped Qatar leapfrog to fifth position on the medals table with three gold and one silver medal. Japan are leading the table with 10 gold, four silver and three bronze medals while China are in the second place with eight gold, four silver and 2 bronze medals.
India (four gold, five silver and as five bronze) and Uzbekistan (four gold, four silver and one bronze) are on third and fourth positions respectively.
Qatar are ahead of Sri Lanka, who hold sixth position with two gold, one silver and two bronze medals followed by Chinese Taipei with one gold, four silver and five bronze medals.
Abakar will bid for his third gold medal on the last day of the championships when he competes in the men’s 110m hurdles today along with compatriot Nayef Mubarak Al Rashidi.
Abakar topped his heat yesterday with a time of 13.85 after Al Rashidi clocked 14.05 in the opening heat to qualify for the final.
Apart from the sprinter, Aspire Academy’s pole vaulter Seif Abdessalem Hemeida is the other athlete to win gold medal for Qatar in the championships. In doing so, the 18-year-old also broke the championship record clearing 5.50m after sealing the victory on Sunday.
Ahmet Gebril secured the silver medal for Qatar, finishing second in the shot put by clearing a distance of 18.85m on Monday.
According to the organisers, more than 1,500 athletes from 45 countries are taking part in the Asian U-20 Athletics Championships.
