Four Asian records broken on the third day of competition
DUBAI, 10th March: India and Iran sparkled in chilly conditions to break four Asian records on the third day of the inaugural IPC Athletics Asia-Oceania Championships Dubai 2016 on Wednesday 9th March.
Iran had a field day by adding two more golds medals to their tally of six to top the standings ahead of India who have six golds.
Nour Mohammad Arekhi (F11) set the tone as the Championship began on schedule despite the inclement weather by taking gold in the men’s discus throw F11-13 with a throw of 35.16m (835 points), shattering a mark which had stood since 2002 by 3.53 metres.
Mahnaz Amini Nogourani (F57) improved on her own Asian record in the women’s shot put (F56/57) throwing 8.10m (651 points).
UAE won a silver medal through Mariam Matroushi in the women’s Javelin Throw (F46) taking their medal tally to seven in this Championship being held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council (DSC).
However, Indian athletes stole the limelight by scorching the track at the Dubai Police Officer’s Club stadium in Jadaf.
India’s ‘blade’ runner Anandan Gunasekaran powered past Sri Lankan Ajith Hettiarachchi to win the men’s 400m T44 in a new Asian record of 54.67 shattering the mark of 54.82 set by China's Zhiming Liu at the London Games in 2012.
The 28-year-old military officer from Karnataka was elated after his triumph and almost breathless after bursting to the finish running on the outside lane.
“I feel very good and very proud to get a gold medal for India,” said Gunasekaran who has already qualified for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.
“I will give an even better performance at the Paralympic Games now. I felt very well before this competition,” said Gunasekeran who wants to run under 50 seconds.”
“I will try to get under 50 seconds. I’ve been practising the 400m for only two months. Last month I ran 56 seconds at the Indian Nationals and after one month’s hard work I have run 54.67. I have many more months to practice,” he said oozing with confidence.
India got their second Asian record on the track after Ramkaran Singh won the 5,000m T13.
The 25-year-old silver medallist at the Incheon Asian Para Games (800m T13), raced against the clock to finish in 16:15.47 and eclipse the previous record of 16:33.87 held by Iran's Elahi Ali since 2006.
"Rainy weather and lack of competition affected my overall timing," said Singh who has yet to qualify for Rio. "I feel very well but it was difficult with the rain and with just two runners. Actually basically my timing would have been with faster if there had been more competition."
Indian coach Deepak Bhardwaj was confident four or five athetes would qualify for Rio.
"We already have two Paralympians in Amit Kumar (Club Throw) and Devendra (Javelin). We will win several medals in Rio, at least two or three golds. Our preparations for the season have begun in Dubai and we hope to take part in Sharjah and Fazza competitions following this Championship," he said.
Amit Kumar had to settle for silver in the Club Throw despite being the Asian record holder in this event.
"I have already qualified for Rio since I’m the world number three. The weather affected my performance because my category is for severe injury. I’m happy getting a medal but my performance not up to expectations," said the 31 year-old from Haryana who suffered a spinal cord injury in 2007 and has won three medals in two Asian Para Games including gold in Incheon (Club Throw).
Malaysia’s world champion Mohamad Ridzuan Mohamad Puzi stormed home to gold in the men’s 100m T36 but head coach Jaganathan Ramaswamy was not happy.
"It was a poor timing. The cold weather affected him because he could not warm up because of rain," he said. "The race in Dubai was easy. He is still the fastest in Asia. "
Saudi Arabia’s Hani Alnakhli (F33) won his second gold medal with a best effort of 8.74m (713 points) in javelin F33/34 to add to his victory in the men’s discus throw F33/34 on the opening day.
“This is good preparation for me for Brazil where I will do shot put,” he said.
The IPC Athletics Asia-Oceania Championships is organized and supervised by the Dubai Club for the Disabled with the support of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the General Authority for Youth and Sports Welfare, the DSC and the UAE Paralympic Committee.
The Official Sponsors of this Championship are as follows: Hamdan Bin Mohamed Heritage Center (HHC), Al Maktoum Foundation, Sheikha Maitha Centre for People with Special Needs, Dubai Health Authority (DHA), Falcon City, Dubai Municipality, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation, BMW and Dubai Investments. Dubai Sports TV is the media partner.
It will be held until Saturday March 12th at the Dubai Police Officers Club in Jadaf.
The competition is held from 3.30pm to 7.30pm daily. Athletes compete in distances from 100m, 200m, 400, 800m, 1,500m, 5,000m, 4x100m and 4x400m relay events on the track, and field events of shot put, discus, javelin, club throw, long jump, high jump and triple jump. The track and field events will be held in accordance with the rules and regulations of IPC Athletics.
