Al Hosani enters quarterfinals

Ahmed Al Hosani (left) gets set for a left foot attack by A. Azeri of Azerbaijan.

Ahmed Al Hosani edged A. Azeri of Azerbaijan 8-7 to qualify for the quarterfinal of the taekwondo competition at the 6th Children of Asia International Sports Games (CAISG) in Yakutia, capital of the Sakha Republic in Russia.
Azeri took a commanding 5-1 lead after the first two rounds but Al Hosani rallied brilliantly to tie the score at 5-5 before the UAE lad scored a vital centre thrust point for a memorable victory. Al Hosani next runs into Indonesia's Mohammed Bushari in the quarterfinal.
In another bout, luckless Saeed Al Rumaithi of the UAE performed well against his Sakha Republic opponent but bowed out 4-5 despite several surgical strikes in the closing stages. UAE's Hasan Al Mesmari was to make his appearance on the competition mat in the concluding phase of the taekwondo competition, Monday night.
"Our participation was meant to be a new learning process for our newcomers. This event will give them a boost for a better show in future events and build up their self-confidence," Rashid Ramadan, the technical delegate of the taekwondo team said.
Earlier on Monday evening, Abdullah Al Baluchi finished fourth in the men's singles of the table tennis tournament. Abdullah showed great battling qualities to enter the semis by scoring victories over Korean, Mongolian and Bhutanese players before beating a Syrian and a strong Chinese player in the quarterfinal. He lost in the semifinal pool against the South Korea and Hong Kong players to finish fourth.
In athletics, Mahra Abdul Raheem clocked two minutes, 51 seconds to finish fourth in the first round of the girls 800m, while compatriot Sabah finished fifth. In the boys long jump, Juma Tariq leaped to a distance of 5.58 metres to finish among the qualifiers.