Hemeida delivers gold as Ibrahim adds bronze for Qatar on Asian Games debut

Doha, Qatar: Bassem Hemeida lived up to expectations by winning the 400m hurdles gold while Zakaria Ibrahim claimed bronze in the 3,000m steeplechase as Qatar’s athletics campaign produced two medals at the Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 yesterday.

The two athletics medals took Qatar’s tally to seven at the Games, comprising three gold, two silver and as many bronze.

Hemeida clocked 47.82 seconds to take the top spot and his maiden gold medal at the Asian Games. His victory came a day after Abderrahman Samba, Qatar’s main hope in the event, was forced out of contention after sustaining an injury in Sunday’s semi-finals.

Hemeida, who had finished behind Samba at the previous Asian Games, delivered when Qatar needed him most.

“This medal is the fruit of immense effort put in since the previous Asian Games. Thank Allah, it culminated in winning the gold. I feel proud to raise Qatar’s flag high at this major Asian event, and I look forward to achieving more in the future,” Hemeida said.

He added Samba’s absence also motivated him to produce his best.

“The absence of my teammate, Abderrahman Samba, due to injury served as a motivation for me to give my best to secure the gold medal and ensure a Qatari presence on the podium,” he said.

Japan’s Taiju Goto (47.93) secured silver while Taiwan’s Chung-wei Lin (48.74) claimed bronze medal in the event.

Meanwhile, Ibrahim completed a memorable Asian Games debut by taking bronze in the 3,000m steeplechase in 8:18.13, finishing behind Japan’s Ryuji Miura (8:17.36) and Ryoma Aoki (8:17.60).

Ibrahim, 22, was the youngest competitor in the final.Qatar's Bassem Hemeida (right) in action during the men's 400 metres hurdles final.

“I am overjoyed to have won the bronze. Although I was aiming for silver, I faced some challenges; nevertheless, I am happy to stand on the podium,” Ibrahim said.

“This was my first time participating in the Asian Games. Thank Allah I won the bronze medal, which will serve as a major motivator for the future, especially since I was the youngest competitor in the final. This experience gives me valuable insight and drives me to strive for even greater achievements down the line.”

Qatar’s athletics team remained in contention for more medals, with the 4x400m relay team reaching today’s final after finishing second in the heats in 3:01.71, its best time of the season.

Ismail Dawood, Yousef Abdulaziz Jabreen, Samer Mousa Hassan and Mohammed Kala will contest the final.

Also today, Saif Abdulsalam will compete in the pole vault final, while Abubaker Abdalla and Hatem Hameed will line up in the 800m final.

Al Annabi on course for fourth straight handball gold

Qatar’s defending champions reached the handball final after beating the Republic of Korea 32-30 in a closely fought semi-final.

Al Annabi will meet Bahrain in the final, marking the third time the two nations have met in the title clash. Bahrain defeated Japan 35-31 in the other semi-final.

Qatar trailed 2-0 early on and Korea maintained the advantage for much of the first half before the teams went into the interval level at 16-16.

Qatar moved 18-16 ahead early in the second half, but Korea fought back and the teams remained locked in a tight contest at 26-26.

Qatar finally pulled clear in the closing stages, opening a 30-28 lead before extending it to 32-28. Korea reduced the deficit late on, but Qatar held on to book their place in the final.

Qatar are chasing a fourth successive Asian Games gold after winning the title at Incheon 2014, Jakarta 2018 and Hangzhou 2022.

Volleyball team faces India for top spot

Qatar’s volleyball team advanced to the second round after beating Vietnam 3-0 in their second Group C match yesterday.

Qatar took a tight first set 25-23 before edging Vietnam 28-26 in another close contest. The third set was more comfortable as Qatar won 25-19 to complete the straight-sets victory. The result followed Qatar’s opening win over Hong Kong and confirmed their progress to the next round. Qatar face India today, with both teams having won two matches and the result determining the top two places in the group.

Meanwhile, Qatar’s two beach volleyball teams will compete in the Round of 16 today eyeing their spots in the quarter-finals.

Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan, representing Qatar 1, face Vietnam’s Lam Toi Nguyen and Viet Van Tran, while Qatar 2’s Moussa Al-Khayr and Mohamed Ihab take on China’s Jinyang Song and Yanwei Wang.

Fares finishes sixth in weightlifting

Tokyo Olympic champion Fares Ibrahim finished sixth in the men’s 95kg weightlifting competition with a total of 340kg.

Fares lifted 150kg in the snatch and 190kg in the clean and jerk. Iran’s Ali Pour won gold with 398kg, Kazakhstan’s Nurgissa Adiletuly took silver with 394kg and China’s Tu Yi claimed bronze with 384kg.

Qatar’s weightlifting campaign continues today with Ouisal Ikhlef competing in the women’s +86kg category.

Meanwhile in padel, Qatar’s Mohammed Saadon Al-Kuwari and Hassan Wali lost 2-1 to Kazakhstan’s Timur Khabibulin and Yevgeniy Danilov in their opening match. The Qatari pair dropped the first set 7-5 but responded strongly to win the second 6-2 and force a decider.

Kazakhstan eventually prevailed 7-6 in the third set to take the match.