(MENAFN- Gulf Times) China finished with 31 medals, including 15 gold in the first Asian Youth Athletics Championships, underlining its supremacy as the regional sports powerhouse.
There was delight for hosts as well, after Qatar's Fatima Othman al-Absi won bronze in the pole vault final on the last day of the championship. Qatar finished 14th in the medals tally with one bronze and one gold. On the opening day Muhand Khamis Saifeldin had clinched the 2000m steeplechase gold for the hosts.
Taipei finished second with four gold and one bronze medal. Bahrain came third with three gold and one bronze, while India finished fifth with two gold, six silvers and five bronze. Overall, a total of 16 countries won a gold medal, while 27 saw at least one of their athletes stepping on the podium.
Four days of pure thrill and unforgettable moments climaxed yesterday's as the championships concluded with a grand finale at the Qatar Sports Club with China's Ding Shuo equaling the 2015 world lead with 2.15 in a spectacular high jump final.
The high jump final was nothing short of epic. Four athletes, Ding Shuo,
Roshan Dammika Ranatungage of Sri Lanka, Hussein Falah Hasan al-Ibraheemi of Iraq and Tejaswin Shanker of India, all cleared 2.12, a world-class mark and a measure that would have qualified for the World Youth Championships final two years ago in Donetsk. When the bar was raised to the 2.15 mark though, all but Shuo failed, with Ranatungage going the closest to clearing with some very close jumps.
Taipei's Yu Sen Shen, who clinched 100m gold on the opening day, won the boys 200m gold in 21.69 to complete his golden double. The slender sprinter from Taipei kept among the leaders over the bend and powered past everyone on the home straight, to finish in 21.69. The winner of the girls' 100m, Poon Hang Wai of Hong Kong finished in disappointing sixth place in the 200m.
In the Discus Throw, Iran's Sajjad Hassan Zare fell far from his true potential, but his effort was adequate enough to award him gold. The 17-year-old from the city of Masha threw 53.06, well behind his 57.86 personal best, but he was a class of his own nonetheless. Ehsan Haddadi, the 2012 Olympic Games silver medalist and 2011 World Championships bronze medalist is held as an inspiration by Zare and is a role model for many young Iranians, who aim to imitate his heroics.
"It's been only three years since I started training. I have met Haddadi once. He came to see me training and advised me to improve my technique and work on my speed, to become a champion like him," said Zare, who had never competed outside Iran before.
"I have already qualified for the World Youth Championships in Cali. I know I can better my record and fight for gold in Colombia. I dream of seeing myself winning the Olympic gold medal one day."
China's Zhang Jun captured the last day's first medal in the morning session with a clear victory in the 10K Walk (44:00.87). As soon as the evening session commenced, Huang Jiaxin added more silverware to the Chinese medal collection with a comfortable win in the 200m, clocking 24.67.
Sri Lanka's Yamani Dulanjalee Mudiyanselage and Kazakhstan's Mariya Ovchinikova saved the best for last, offering their respective countries their first gold medals at the Championships. The former won in the 400m Hurdles in 1:01.27 and the latter leaped 12.81 in the Triple Jump, the sixth best performance in the world this year. Just a few moments later, Kazakhstan prevailed in another discipline, the Girl's Pole Vault, with Anna Danilovskaya sailing over 3.70.
China's Zhou Jungjing scored 5000 points in the heptathlon to claim gold and Bahrain's Dalila Abdulkadir Gosa made it look easy as he ran to a 1500m victory finishing in 4:19.95, the fifth best time in the world for 2015. China won both Medley Relays, the Boys finishing in 1:53.34 and the Girls in 2:13.32.
RESULTS
BOYS
200m: Yu Sen Shen (Tpe) 21.69; Wu Zhitao (Chn) 22.01; Ogsa Agfreansa (Ina) 22.16
10km walk: Zhang Jun (Chn) 44:00.87; Shuqi Guo (Chn) 45:25.93; Yunhwa Song (Kor) 48:34.39
400m Hurdles: Witthawat Thumcha (Tha) 52.45; Darshana (Sri) 52.88; Hyunbin Kim (Kor) 52.93
Discus Throw: Sajjad Hassan Zare (Iri) 53.06; Eric Yee (Sin) 52.55; Du Haonan (Chn) 48.99
High Jump: Ding Shuo (Chn) 2.15; Roshan (Sri) 2.12; Hussain (Irq) 2.12
Medley Relay: China 1:53.34; India 1:53.74
Saudi Arabia 1:55.84
Girls
Heptathlon: Zhou Jingjin (Chn) 5000; Viktoria Ryazantseva (Kaz) 4629 Aleksandra Yukevskaya (Uzb) 4437
400m Hurdles
Yamani Dulanjalee Mudiyanselage (Sri) 1:01.27; Qiu Zhangyan (Chn) 1:02.61; Adelina Akhmetova (Kaz) 1:03.27
Triple Jump: Mariya Ovchinkiova (Kaz) 12.81; Chen Jie (Chn) 12.77; Viktoria Dirdina (Uzb) 12.34
1500M: Dalila Abdulkadir Gosa (Brn) 4.19.95; Nozomi Tanaka (Jpn) 4:25.00; Dawajila (Chn) 4:37.64
200m: Huang Jiaxin (Chn) 24.67; Sayaka Morita (Jpn) 25.16; Kugapriya Chandran (Sin) 25.35
Pole Vault: Anna Danilovskaya (Kaz) 3.70
Devi Ayufebriana (Ina) 3.40; Fatima Othman al-Absi (Qat) 2.00
Medley Relay: China 2:13.32; Kazakhstan 2:17.72; Bahrain 2:19.4
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