BAHRAIN's athletics team signed off in style winning three medals yesterday in the third Asian Indoor Games at My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi, writes RAMI HULAYYEL.
On the concluding day of athletics, Bahrain claimed one gold, one silver and one bronze in two competitions to take their medal tally to a total of five.
In the women's 3,000m, 17-year-old Bahraini Tejitu Daba Chalchissa won the gold in nine minutes and 32.65 second, while compatriot Gladys Cherotich Kibiwot took the bronze in the same event in 9:42.64.
Bahrain's Alemu Bekele, who clinched the men's 3,000m silver last Sunday, picked up the 1,500m silver in three minutes and 43.66 seconds.
Mimi Belete, who came second in the women's 1,500m event last Wednesday, also saw action in the women's 800m during which she could only finish fourth overall.
The Bahrainis were honoured yesterday at the awarding ceremony which was held at Hanoi athletics gym. They were congratulated on this achievement by Supreme Council for Youth and Sports vice-president and honorary president of the Bahrain Olympic Committee Shaikh Isa bin Rashid Al Khalifa who followed up the Bahraini athletes' progress yesterday.
In this edition's Games, the Bahrainis is taking part in five disciplines - indoor athletics, swimming, futsal, snooker and electronic games 'Playstation'.
The electronic games 'Playstation' team, headed by Hisham Al Kooheji, bowed out of the competition yesterday.
Players
The team also included Mohammed Atef Al Ghazali and Ahmed Abdulmalek Shukri who lost in the first and second rounds, respectively.
Al Ghazali was placed in a tough group, losing all his three games to representatives from South Korea, Iran and Mangolia, while Shukri played against players from Qatar, India and Vietnam.
Shukri won the first two games before losing the third to set up his second round clash against a player from China whom he lost to 2-3.
In snooker, Bahrain's rising player Ahmed Ghuloom went down to Indian opponent Sharma 0-4 in his first game in the singles event.
The Bahraini delegation is being headed by Bahrain Billiards and Snooker Federation member Yousef Mohammed and also includes Hisham Al Saqer and Hussain Mahmood who takes on India's Avanti today in the first round.
The swimming team, who arrived yesterday in Hanoi, will begin their campaign on Thursday at the Olympic Pool. The team comprises coach Dhafer Ahmed Buzaid beside swimmers Omar Yousef and Sufyan Al Malki. Bahrain's soccer 'futsal' team had already crashed out of the tournament after losing their last game in Group 'C' last Sunday to contenders Malaysia 3-6.
Coached by Mahmood Mansoor, the five-member team were mostly represented by captain Mahmood Al Sharqawi, Sayed Mohammed Hameed, Abdulla Abbas, Hani Al Badrani, Ali Abdulrasool and Mohammed Radhi.
