MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2021 12

History made! Mahmoud becomes first Bahraini to qualify for shot put at Olympics Twenty-year-old Abdelrahman Mahmoud registers a throw of 21.10 metres to secure berth at Tokyo Games, win gold medal at Belarus Athletics Indoor Cup, set new national record and set new Asian indoor record

Bahrain athletics chief• congratulates HH Shaikh Nasser and HH Shaikh Khalid on 21.10 historic achievement metres is the distance registered by Abdelrahman Mahmoud’s Mahmoud is also throw first• Bahraini to meet qualifying standard for throwing event secured several achievements at Olympic Games for . In 2019, he won a gold medal and set a new na- TDT | tional record in the men’s shot put at the Belarus National Out- ahraini Abdelrahman Bahrain’s Abdelrahman Mahmoud in action in Belarus Mahmoud after registering his record throw door Athletics Championships. BMahmoud has made sport- ation (BAA). the meeting. On the occasion of Mahmoud’s (SCYS) chairman His Highness He registered a throw of 19.31 ing history after becoming the Mahmoud secured his place at The 20-year-old has become historic feat, BAA president Mo- Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al metres, which was a new Bah- Kingdom’s first-ever athlete to the Tokyo Olympics after achiev- the first Bahraini to qualify for hammed bin Jalal congratulat- Khalifa, and SCYS first deputy rain record at the time. He shat- qualify for the men’s shot put ing the qualifying standard of any of athletics’ throwing events ed His Majesty the King’s Hu- chairman and Bahrain Olym- tered the previous best mark of competition at the Summer 21.10 metres. He did this at the at the Olympics. His mark of manitarian Works and Youth pic Committee president HH 18.68m, which he himself set Olympic Games. Belarus Athletics Indoor Cup 21.10m is also his personal best, Affairs representative, National Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al earlier that year at the Asian This was confirmed yesterday on Friday, which also clinched a new national record, and also Security Advisor and Supreme Khalifa. Athletics Championships, where by the Bahrain Athletics Associ- him the shot put gold medal at the new Asian indoor record. Council for Youth and Sport Mahmoud has over the years he was classified fifth.

Muharraq secure top seed for volleyball semis Manama, Riffa victorious in basketball league Najma move on to complete Golden Square semi-final line-up as Hala narrowly miss out

Standings Hasan Nowrooz, Karim • P W L Pts Ezzeddine combine for 44, 11 10 1 21 lead Manama past Najma, who Manama 10 10 0 20 secure semis berth despite loss Al Ahli 10 8 2 18 Al Najma 11 7 4 18 Hala succumb to Riffa in Al Hala 11 6 5 17 • Riffa 11 6 5 17 overtime to lose out on chance to Nuwaidrat 11 5 6 16 potentially qualify for final four Samaheej 11 4 7 15 Ettihad 11 4 7 15 TDT | Manama Bahrain Club 11 2 9 13 11 2 9 13 11 1 10 12 Muharraq players celebrate after sealing their win over Al Ahli he line-up of teams in the Golden Square semi-finals of the 2020/2021 TDT | Manama Standings TZain Bahrain Basketball League is 17. Ali Jaber dished out 13 assists in the complete, as Al Najma secured the last loss, which was their fourth to go with efending champions Mu- P W L berth yesterday to join Muharraq, Manama seven wins. Dharraq secured the all-im- Muharraq 14 13 1 and defending champions Al Ahli. Meanwhile, in yesterday’s other game, portant number one seed last Al Ahli 14 12 2 Najma claimed the final place despite los- Hala did well to bounce back from a slow night heading into the semi-fi- Dar Kulaib 14 11 3 ing to Manama 75-87 last night. The other start and headed into the fourth quarter nals of the 2020/2021 Isa bin Al Najma 14 7 7 final four contenders, Al Hala, needed to with a slim, two-point lead, 51-49. Cana- Rashid Bahrain First Division Al Nasser 14 7 7 win their game against Riffa yesterday, but dian Keanau Post was then able to tie the Volleyball League, following a Bani Jamra 14 4 10 they fell 73-76 in a narrow overtime loss. proceedings at 64-apiece in the final minute stunning straight-sets victory A’ali 14 2 12 Only one game remains to be played in of regulation, forcing overtime. over Al Ahli in a top-of-the- Busaiteen 14 0 14 the league’s preliminary stage, and it will In the extra session though, Riffa made table clash. be between Manama and Ahli on Wednes- Riffa’s Dexter Pittman tries to score in the paint the key plays down the stretch. A basket by against Hala’s tough defence The match ended the two to seal the result with a day. That will determine the top two seeds former NBA champion Dexter Pittman tied league’s round-robin stage, 3-0 (30-28, 25-19, 25-21) score in the Golden Square, with Ahli already against Ahli in their last fixture would earn the proceedings at 72-apiece with just over and it earned Muharraq a cru- line. assured third and Najma fourth. them the top seed over Muharraq. two minutes to play. Hassan Abbas then had cial twice-to-beat advantage It gave Muharraq a 13-1 win- Manama’s win yesterday maintained They dominated the fourth quarter in last two charity shots swish through before Post in the final four. There, they loss record to head into the their unbeaten record after 10 games. A win night’s clash. They outscored Najma by 17 replied by splitting his own freebies from will face fourth-seeded Al Na- next stage, while Ahli went to (30-13) in the period to pull away from their the stripe, but then Pittman applied the nail jma, who face the uphill task of 12-2 not far behind. rivals, who managed to keep things close in the coffin with a baby hook with seven needing two victories in order For Dar Kulaib, they sent and even lead by as many as eight points. seconds to go to peg the final score. to advance to the final. out a stern warning to their Once Manama got into their groove, how- Hala had one last chance to tie the game, The other semis match- semi-final opponents by easily ever, they were in full control and built a but Hussain Salman’s three-point attempt up will be between Ahli and taking care of Busaiteen 3-0 16-point cushion with under two minutes as time expired was off the mark. Dar Kulaib, who ended the (25-19, 25-18, 25-19). KNOW WHAT left. Pittman finished with 28 points and 18 round-robin as second and Dar Kulaib end the Hasan Nowrooz and Lebanese profes- rebounds to pace Riffa, while Abbas added third seeds, respectively. round-robin with an 11-3 re- sional Krarim Ezzeddine combined for 44 18 and Mohamed Ghazwan and Mohamed Dar Kulaib were also win- cord while Busaiteen finished Manama’s win yesterday points to spearhead Manama. Nowrooz Salman both chipped in with nine points. ners yesterday, beating lowly winless after 14 matches. maintained their unbeaten had 23 while Ezzeddine finished with 21 Post had 20 points, 17 boards and five blocks Busaiteen in three sets. Ahli’s semis clash with Dar including 10 rebounds and six assists. Mo- in the losing effort for Hala, while Hussain In Muharraq’s win, after Kulaib will be a best-of-three record after 10 games. A win hammed Ameer chipped in with 18 and Salman scored 11. overcoming a heated chal- affair. Both final four series against Ahli in their last fix- Ahmed Salman had 11. With the result, Riffa and Hala finished lenge from their rivals in the are still to be scheduled by the ture would earn them the top For Najma, CJ Giles scored 21, grabbed 12 their preliminary round campaigns with first set by just two points, the Bahrain Volleyball Associa- seed over Muharraq boards and had four blocks. Qassim Hassan identical 6-5 win-loss records as they both victors powered on in the next tion. contributed 18 while Fadalallah Abbas had missed out on advancing the final four.

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