Al Sharshani, Al Athba seal bronze to raise Qatar's tally to four medals
Published: 29 Sep 2023 - 10:37 am | Last Updated: 29 Sep 2023 - 10:57 am
Doha, Qatar: Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan retained their Asian Games beach volleyball title, outsmarting China’s Ha Likejiang and Wu Jiaxin 22-20 and 21-16 in the final to give Qatar their first gold medal in Hangzhou yesterday.
Reem Al Sharshani and Rashid Saleh Al Athba raised Qatar’s tally to four medals including a gold, one silver and two bronze medals after finishing third in the mixed skeet event.
Qatar's Reem Al Sharshani and Rashid Saleh Al Athba (right) celebrate on the podium after winning bronze medal in mixed skeet team event at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
Younousse and Tijan, who also won gold at the 2018 Asian Games, maintained their perfect form despite a tough fight from the home side in the final.
The first set saw intense battle for 24 minutes with the Qatari pair edging the home side before they put up a strong show to secure the second set in 21 minutes.
“It was a tough competition and the path to the gold medal was not easy,” Younousse said after the win yesterday.
“We are delighted to win for Qatar and we are thankful to everyone for their support,” he added.
Tijan hoped to continue title wins for Qatar as the World No.3 pair will now prepare for the next month’s World Championship in Mexico.
“It’s an honour to win consecutive gold medals at the Asian Games. We will give our best to continue winning titles for Qatar,” he said.
After a men’s team skeet silver and an individual bronze from legendary Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah in skeet, Al Sharshani and Al Athba secured third medal for the shooting team in
Hangzhou after beating Bahrain’s Tammar Ali Alwatt and Maryam Alasam 44-37 in the bronze medal play-off final,.
Kazakhstan and Kuwait claimed gold and silver medals in the event respectively.
Reem Al Sharshani gestures after completing her round yesterday
Al Sharshani, who missed out on a women’s individual medal after finishing fifth on Wednesday, was delighted on her achievement.
“I am proud to win the first Asian Games medal for my country. This medal is a huge boost for me in the competitions ahead as I look to win more medals for Qatar,” she said.
Al Athba, who was also a part of silver winning skeet team along with Al Attiyah and his brother Masoud, said: “We delivered a good performance and won bronze with a good lead. Reem Al Sharshani was very impressive. We were aiming for a gold medal but winning a bronze is also special.”
After yesterday’s medals, Qatar jumped to 17th in the medals table led by hosts China with 90 gold, 51 silver and 26 bronze medals.
Meanwhile, Qatar’s 3x3 basketball team cruised into the knockout stage after outclassing Kyrgyzstan 21-5 for their third consecutive win. Al Annabi, who also defeated Thailand and Kazakhstan are leading Pool D and will meet Cambodia in their next group match today.
In men's basketball, Qatar suffered a 64-76 defeat to South Korea - their second loss in Group D after they were beaten by Japan.
Today, Qatar handball team will take on Kazakhstan in a Group B match eyeing their third straight victory.
The defending champions defeated Hong Kong and South Korea in their first two games.
Al Annabi’s track and field stars will also start their medal hunt as athletics competitions kick off today.
