One of the most important Asian championships in the world today gets under way today: the seventh edition of the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships, hosted by Doha for the second time after the 2008 edition, which was a resounding success with a large turnout and strong marks in athletics across the continent. The Aspire Academy for Sporting Excellence hall will be the stage for the continent’s indoor challenge, a championship that represents an important step in the world athletics season calendar, since it comes ahead of next month’s World Indoor Athletics Championships in Portland, USA. The seventh edition is being held with a major record already set before it even begins, in terms of the scale of participation, the largest ever for the Asian continent, with champions from 37 Asian countries represented by 450 male and female athletes, who will compete for medals and records and for the best chance to prepare for the upcoming World Championships in the Olympic season, including 115 women competing across thirteen events in the women’s category.
Doha completed its preparations for the major event through extensive arrangements over the past period by the senior committee organising the championship, chaired by Major General Dahlan Jumaan Al Hamad, president of the Asian and Qatari federations and vice-president of the IAAF, with all the technical and administrative details for the participating delegations arranged, alongside the preparation of training venues for the athletes on both the field and the track, leaving Doha ready to present a model edition in terms of organisation, in which the continent’s athletics champions can achieve success.
7 gold medals on the first day of the championship
Aspire Hall sees the start today of the continental indoor challenge for the Asian men’s and women’s national teams, with the morning session hosting the heats from nine o’clock, and the evening session starting at five forty-five, with (7) medals to be awarded, 5 for women and 2 for men, as follows:
First, women: the long jump final, pole vault, shot put, 1500m and 60m.
Second, men: the high jump final, in which Qatar is represented by the trio of Mutaz Essa Barshim, Moammar Barshim and Hamdi Al Amin, and the 60m final, in which we are represented by the trio of Samuel Francis, Eid Al Kuwari and Tosin.
Qatar defends its title
Qatar is defending the title it won at the sixth edition, held in the Chinese city of Hangzhou in 2014, when it took first place after its champions swept gold, silver and bronze medals for the first time in the history of Qatari athletics. Qatar is taking part in the current edition with a large group of champions and promising athletes in the sport, with the delegation headed by Mohammed Jassim Al Kuwari, and including the icon of the high jump in Qatar and the world, Mutaz Essa Barshim, holder of the Asian record and world indoor champion, who will be defending his title, and Kazakhstan’s Olga Rypakova, holder of the Asian record, the standout among the 115 women preparing for the indoor competitions.
Among those seeking to hold on to the titles they won at the 2014 edition are our golden sprinter Samuel Francis (60m), his teammate Musaab Abdalla (800m), and our runner Mohammed Al Garni (1500m and 3000m).
Iran’s Mehdi Zamani and his compatriot Maryam Tolouei, for their part, are looking to hold on to the 400m titles they won in Guangzhou, China, as are Kuwait’s Abdulaziz Al Mandeel (60m hurdles) and Saleh
Al Haddad (long jump) and Japan’s Tomomi Abiko (pole vault). India’s Om Prakash Karhana is considered among the favourites to win the shot put for a second consecutive time, as is Uzbekistan’s Svetlana Radzivil, though the latter faces stiff competition from compatriot Nadiya Dusanova, who will try to deny her the high jump title. Kazakhstan’s Yelena Mikhina, winner of gold in the 4x400m relay in 2014, is also looking to hold on to her title, but is expected to face fierce competition in the 400m in which she is taking part.
Simplified leaps at the opening
The opening ceremony of the Asian Indoor Championships includes a streamlined programme beginning at 4.50 with the arrival of the ceremony’s guest of honour at the VIP stand, then the national anthem (4.52pm), a recitation from the Holy Quran (4.55pm), the parade of participating teams (4.57pm), a speech by the president of the Asian federation and chairman of the championship’s senior organising committee (5.15pm), the raising of the championship flag (5.18pm), then the official declaration of the championship’s opening, followed by the teams’ departure from the parade, after which competition officially begins (6.10pm).
Schools at the heart of the event
Ahead of the official start of competition, relay races for community schools’ boys’ and girls’ teams over (4x200m) will be held, expected to be lively and exciting, especially since most Asian schools organised internal competitions to select their fastest runners in order to form strong school teams and showcase their high abilities in sprint events for athletics.
