Qatar’s Samuel Francis (third left ) wins the men’s 100m final on day one of the 14th GCC Athletics Championships at Khalifa Stadium in Doha yesterday. PICTURES: Kammutty VP
BELOW: Qatar’s Abdullah Ateeq Al Abdullah (centre), winner of the juniors 110m hurdles final, is seen with second-placed Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Usman (left) and Othman Abdurahman, also of Saudi Arabia, on day one of the 14th GCC Athletics Championships at Khalifa Stadium in Doha yesterday. RIGHT: Ibrahim Mousi Adam (centre) of Qatar, Mishel Khaleefa Al Matheri (left) of Kuwait, and his compatriot Hussain Ali Ahmed are seen after the juniors 100m final.
DOHA: Popular sprinter Samuel Francis of Qatar yesterday won the 100m final with an impressive run on day one of the 14th GCC Athletics Championships.
Francis, 26, clocked a time of 9.99secs and finished ahead of Barkat bin Mubarak of Oman to clinch the gold medal.
Mubarak clocked a time of 10.13secs to secure the silver medal at Khalifa Stadium.
Hamood Ali of Saudi Arabia was third fastest with a time of 10.34 to grab the bronze.
The three-day championships have attracted more than 200 athletes from the region.
The participants - which also includes juniors competing in various disciplines alongside the seniors - are contesting in shot put, 110m, 100m, 400m, javelin throw, high jump, long jump, pole vault and the 10,000m competitions.
In another final, Qatar’s Mohammed Ibrahim bagged a silver medal in the men’s javelin throw competition.
Ibrahim’s best throw was 67.25m. Saudi Arabia’s Abdullah Al Ghamdi (68.61) won the gold whereas Abdullah Adnan of Kuwait picked up the bronze. Adnan’s best throw went a distance pf 66.59m.
In the men’s 110m hurdles, Abdulaziz Almandeel led a Kuwaiti 1-2. Amnaldeel won the gold with a time of 13.45 while compatriot Fawaz Al Shammari bagged the silver with a time of 13.71.
Saudi Arabia’s Ali Hussain (13.91) picked up the bronze medal.
In the 400m final, Saudi Arabia’s Ismael Al Sabyani (46.09) picked up the gold ahead of Oman’s Ahmed bin Mohammed (46.74) who won a silver for his efforts.
Oman’s Usman bin Ali (47.26) walked off with a bronze medal.
Today in the championships - organised by Qatar Athletics Federation (QAF) - athletes will compete for 12 medals. Six medals will be won by the senior athletes while a similar number will be up for grabs for the juniors.
In the championships tomorrow, athletes will compete in 13 events (8 for seniors and 5 for juniors).
Qatar’s London Games star Mutaz Essa Barshim will compete in the long jump event tomorrow at 5:30pm.
Barshim - who won a bronze medal in the London Games long jump competition - is currently out of the country training for the season.
Three juniors will compete in every discipline from each participating country, QAF said yesterday.
A soft opening ceremony was held at Khalifa Stadium where the three-day
Also yesterday, the regional chiefs in athletics converged at Sheraton Doha for a meeting proposed and hosted by QAF.
During the meeting headed by QAF President Dahlan Al Hamad, proposed a ‘kids festival’ for young athletes from across the Middle East.
QAF is also keen to stage a championships designed for female athletes, Al Hamad said and the proposal was also put forward in the meeting.
“The leadership in Qatar is keen to bring nations together through sports,” Al Hamad said in the run up to the championships to be held at Khalifa Staidum.
“This will be first step for the regional athletics family to come closer in this fashion. We will hold discussions and make proposals,” Al Hamad said.
“The successful agreements would be taken to the National Olympic Committees in the region and then possibly to the Asian body and the IAAF,” he said.
QAF is currently preparing for a series of activities with the Heir Apparent Athletics Cup and the Emir Athletics Cup events scheduled for later this month.
On May 10, the QAF will assemble top names like Yohan Blake of Jamaica and David Rudhisha of Kenya for the one-day Samsung Diamond League season-opener at Qatar Sports Club Stadium. THE PENINSULA
