SILVER, BRINGS QATAR JOY Fares Lifts a Total of 381 Kilos in a Close Weightlifting Final
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RRUGBYUGBY | Page 6 FFOOTBALLOOTBALL | Page 7 Barrett shines ‘MCN’ combine as All Blacks well as PSG thrash continue Wallabies perfect start Sunday, August 26, 2018 FORMULA 1 Dhul-Hijja 15, 1439 AH Hamilton snatches GULF TIMES Spa pole in rain-hit qualifying SPORT Page 4 FOCUS FARES LIFTS SILVER, BRINGS QATAR JOY Fares lifts a total of 381 kilos in a close weightlifting final By Anil John Jakarta eightlifting runs in Fares Ibra- him’s blood. His father was a Wweightlifter, so are his broth- ers. “For me weightlifting is not just a sport. It’s really my family, my job, lifestyle and passion,” he says. The passion with which he does his “job” was more than evident yesterday as he held his nerve in the wake of strong opposition to clinch a silver medal in the 94kg cat- egory at the Asian Games. It was Qatar’s second med- al in Indonesia after Hamad al-Marri won a bronze in shooting earlier in the week, and it lifted the mood in the camp following squash star Abdulla al-Tamimi’s heart- breaking exit in the quarter- fi nals on Friday. Fares Ibrahim (third from right) celebrates his silver medal with members of Team Qatar yesterday. Fares, who won a silver medal at the 2017 World (coach and athlete) relation- out of the way, my total focus World Championships last Weightlifting Champion- ship at the beginning was would be on winning the Ol- year. He set a world record ships in Anaheim, USA, to tough. At fi rst I had to wake ympic gold in Tokyo in 2020. yesterday with his 189kg announce his arrival on the him up to get into the training The Olympic Games are the lift in snatch, beating the global stage at the senior level mode. Now Fares is doing ex- pinnacle for any sportsman, 188-kilo mark set in 1999 by while just 19, was one of the actly what I tell him to do. We especially a weightlifter,” Greece’s Akakios Kakiasvilis. favourites for a medal here. eat and sleep and train at the added Fares. Moradi, who won the 94kg He more than justifi ed that same time,” Hassouna had gold in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 tag with his outstanding dis- said in an earlier interview. , set new world records for play. “Our relationship is that clean and jerk (233kg) and to- “Thanks to God I won the of friends. I am not just his tal weight (417kg) at the World silver today. It’s hard to de- father, am his coach as well. I Championships in Anaheim. scribe how happy I am right have been coaching him since With the snatch record nailed now. I wouldn’t be able to he was 10 years old,” Has- yesterday, he now holds all achieve this without the help souna said. three world records in his and support of the Qatar Ol- Fares’ total of 381 kilos was weight division. His total of ympic Committee, my coach only one kilo more than that 410 kilos yesterday was also a and the medical team,” Fares, of the third-placed Sarat new Asian Games record. the junior world champion in Sumpradit of Thailand, who The Iranian is enjoying a 2017, said after totalling 381 fi nished with the bronze, in- second fruitful innings in the kilos to fi nish behind Iran’s dicating how tough the fi ght sport. He was slapped with a Sohrab Moradi who aggre- was for the silver. two-year ban by the Interna- gated 410. The Qatari lifted 166 kilos tional Weightlifting Federa- His coach, of course is his in the snatch and had to settle tion in 2013 after testing pos- father, Ibrahim Hassouna, a for 215 kilos in the clean and itive for the banned substance three-time Olympian, who jerk after twice failing to lift Iranian Moradi, who aced methadone. introduced Fares to the sport 222 kilos. the competition yesterday, “I don’t want to discuss when he was just 10. “I was confi dent through- is the reigning Olympic and that. That was in the past, let The father-son duo follow out about winning a medal. world champion, having also it stay in the past,” said the a strict training regime. “The Now that the Asian Games are beaten Fares to the gold at the 30-year-old. SPOTLIGHT ‘Deeply emotional’: Unifi ed Korea win tearful bronze AFP a traditional Korean folk song, to hardly knew what dragon boat- together behind the Unifi ed Korea Palembang, Indonesia celebrate winning their medal. ing, a traditional form of canoe- fl ag, held aloft jointly by South “I was deeply emotional,” ing, was until the team came to- Korean women’s basketball player said South Korean canoeist Eun gether 20 days ago. Lim Yung-hui and North Korean Unifi ed Korea team Jeong-byun. “We’re divided and “I was initially worried about footballer Ju Kyong Chol. featuring athletes from forbidden from seeing each other there being a barrier between us The two Koreas had parad- North and South Korea but we both know the same song (the two coaches),” said South ed together and formed a joint won dragon boat bronze and speak the same language. Korean coach Yeong Kang-geun. women’s ice hockey team at Feb- Afor their fi rst medal at the Asian “By singing that song, we felt “But the North Korean coach ruary’s Pyeongchang Winter Ol- Games yesterday. we were one nation — yet we told me I could do whatever I ympics, setting the scene for an The highly symbolic all-Kore- aren’t able to see each other.” wanted and he would cooperate unprecedented warming of ties. an team, competing together af- The two Koreas have also because he didn’t know much ter a rapid improvement in cross- joined forces in rowing at the re- about dragon boating. Members of the Unified Korea border relations, came in behind gional Olympics as well as wom- “That happened on the fi rst team celebrate with their bronze China and hosts Indonesia in the en’s basketball, in which they lie day, within fi ve minutes, so we medals during the podium women’s 200 metres race. second in their group after three became close very quickly.” ceremony for the women’s 200m The athletes were in tears af- wins out of four. At last week’s opening cere- traditional boat race at the Asian terwards as they sung “Arirang”, The North Korean athletes mony, the Korean teams marched Games yesterday. (AFP) Gulf Times 2 Sunday, August 26, 2018 ASIAN GAMES ROUND-UP Tosin upstages China star Su to fi re 100m warning 400m specialist Haroun tops his semi-final heat; Qatar in beach volleyball semis; decathlete al-Mannai in fifth on Day 1 By Anil John he now only shares. from the southern Indian state Jakarta “There are two more races (the of Kerala, who won the Asian semis and fi nal today) to go, so for Athletics Championships gold at me, this one does not have to be Bhubaneswar last year, qualifi ed osin Ogunode’s bid to the best,” Su said. fastest for the fi nal with a time of emerge out of the shad- “For me, I just need to run my 45.30 seconds, followed by Abbas ow of his elder brother normal race and not think too with 45.59 seconds. Femi got off to a promis- much,” he added. Prior to the semi-fi nals, Ha- Ting start after he upstaged Chi- Indonesia’s teenage sprint roun had won his heat in 46.28 nese star Su Bingtian in qualify- sensation Lalu Zohri received a seconds but that was only the ing for the semi-fi nals of the 100 thunderous cheer as he clocked sixth-fastest time among all par- metres yesterday. 10.27 seconds, the eighth-fastest ticipants in the heats. Tosin, 24, who is making his time yesterday. In decathlon, Qatar’s Moham- fi rst appearance at the Asian Zohri, just 18, had won the ed al-Mannai ended the fi rst day Games, clocked a promising junior world title last month and in fi fth position on 3014 points, 10.16 seconds to win his heat, his humble background – he was while high jumper Mahamat but still found himself trailing raised in a bamboo shack in the Hamdi produced a best eff ort of Chinese Taipei’s Yang Chunhan earthquake hit Lombok island – 2.15 metres to be tied with a host and Saudi Arabia’s Abdulla Akbar has made him a national icon in of others. Mohamed, who recorded 10.13 Indonesia. Qatar’s Mohamed al-Mannai competes in the men’s long jump as part In beach volleyball, the Qatari and 10.15 seconds, respectively. Earlier, Qatari gold prospect of decathlon event in Jakarta yesterday. 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