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Agencies
Ashgabat (Turkmenistan)
Qatar's Abdalelah Haroun Hassan, a bronze medallist at the recently held World Championships in London, brought out his best once again as he broke the Games record on Day Four of Ashgabat 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games blazing the track to win the men's 400m final on Tuesday.
The Sudan-born flyer clocked 45.68sec to slice 0.40 off the 10-year-old mark, with Mazen Mawtan Alyasen of Saudi Arabia claiming silver with a personal best 46.35 and Mikhail Litvin of Kazakhstan clinching the bronze in 46.51.
The superlative effort of Haroun was applauded by HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al Thani, President, Qatar Olympic Committee.
Sheikh Joaan congratulated Haroun on his top show in a message on Twitter.
But there will be no double for Haroun, who opted to conserve his energy and finished last in his 800m semi-final less than an hour earlier.
"I put it in my mind, but it was just 45 minutes between races. It was too close so I decided to focus on the 400m and just go as fast as I could,' said Haroun of his strategy. I am so happy with the gold."
About setting a new Games record, Haroun said,"The time is good but it was a bit difficult as this was the last competition of a long season. But I'm happy with the record.
"This is a gift for my country and for the Qatar Olympic Committee. I want to say a big thank you to them and especially for my coach," he added.
Comparing this triumph to the one at the world championships in London, Haroun said,"London was good, but this is different. I did not race after London in case I got an injury. I just wanted to stay fresh for these championships."
On the road ahead, the proud athlete said,"I may make the 4x400m relay final, then it's finished. Then it is my holiday."
The disappointment of Haroun's missing out on the 800m race was made up by Jamal Hairane for Qatar.
The young athlete qualified for the men's 800m final finishing second in the second heats semi-final clocking 1:51.92secs.
Kazakh Rypakova continues to sizzle
Also excelling on the day was Kazakh Olga Rypakova who drew on her years of experience to capture a career fifth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts gold medal in the triple jump.
The 2012 Olympic Games champion eventually triumphed in convincing fashion with a jump of 14.32m to add to the long jump gold she won at the indoor athletics arena on Monday.
Rypakova, a clear favourite after winning bronze at the IAAF World Championships in London put pressure on herself by failing in her first two jumps that left her one red flag away from a shock exit.
The vastly-experienced athlete, however, made sure the next time taking off before hitting the board to register 13.96m almost a metre further than anybody had jumped until then.
With the pressure off, Rypakova then powered out to within eight centimetres of the Games record she set in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2009 when she also sealed the jumps double.
Making it a double celebration for Kazakhstan was Mariya Ovchinnikova, who claimed the silver (13.21m), while Tan Qiujiao of China, the world's leading under-18 triple jumper this year, took bronze with a personal best of 13.10m.
In the men's 60m, Iranian Hassan Taftian clearly held something back in his semi-final as he powered to victory from the outside lane, breaking his own Iranian record with a new mark of 6.55secs.
Reigning Asian indoor champion Viktoriya Zyabkina, triumphed in the women's 60m in 7.32 to add to Kazakhstan's golden haul.
Elina Mikhina (KAZ) won the women's 400m in 53.37 to make it three on the night and six in all for the Kazakh team who head the medal table.
India's Lakshmanan Govindan had too much firepower for his 3000m rivals as the army runner struck gold in 8min 02.30 seconds.
India had more success in the women's 1500m with Chitra Palakeezh, an impressive winner in 4:27.77.
The three medallists in the men's long jump were separated by just four centimetres as the crowd were treated to a thrilling climax to the second day of action.
Vietnamese Tien Trong Nguyen won gold with his third-round leap of 7.48m, edging out Sri Lankan Amila Wijayalath Pedige whose effort of 7.45m saw off Chan Ming Tai of Hong Kong by the narrowest of margins.
Meanwhile, Kazakh Sergey Grigoryev received his pole vault gold medal in the victory ceremony just 24 hours after being taken to hospital when landing on his back attempting to break his own Games record.
