Alia wins silver for the UAE

The UAE's Alia Saeed Mohammed (left) holds the silver medal along with gold medal winner Daria Maslova (centre) of Kyrgyzstan and bronze medallist Sanjivani Jadhav.

Long-distance runner Alia Saeed Mohammed made the UAE proud by winning the silver medal on the first day of the 22nd Asian Athletics Championship in Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India.
The Ethiopian-born Emirati clinched the silver in the women's 5,000 metres event at the Kalinga Stadium. Alia, gold medallist in the 10,000 metres at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea and the 2015 Asian Athletics Championships in Wuhan, China, just about missed out on the gold by just two seconds.
The 26-year-old clocked 15:59.95 seconds, two seconds behind gold medallist Daria Maslova of Kyrgyzstan. Daria had a time of 15:57.05 seconds. India's Sanjivani Jadhav took the bronze after clocking 16:00.24 seconds.
Their times were well short of the meet record set by the UAE's Betlhem Desalegn at the Asian Championships in Pune, India, in 2013. Betlhem had clocked 15:12.84 seconds and she had followed that up with a time of 15:25.15 seconds in Wuhan in 2015.
Alia's personal best over the distance has been 15:00.45 seconds at the Olympic Stadium in Baku, Azerbaijan, in May this year.
The UAE Athletics Association dedicated the silver medal to Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union of UAE and Supreme Chairperson of the Family Development Foundation and Chairwoman of the Supreme Council for Maternity and Childhood, as a token of appreciation for her role and unwavering support to the Emirati women in general and UAE sports, in particular.
And in a gracious gesture by the Asian Athletics Association, Ahmed Al Kamali, Member of the Board of the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) and President of the UAE Athletic Federation, was given the honour of presenting the silver medal to Alia.
"We hoped to dedicate to the UAE the gold medal, but the last two seconds of the race had pinched from us the historic moment," said Al Kamali.
Khalid Al Badwawi finished 11th in men's 5000 metres.
The UAE have travelled to India with an eight-member team that includes Bilal Al Salfah, Omar Al Salfah, Ali Moosa Shaiba, Mohammed Al Bolooshi, Saud Al Zaabi, Mayouf Mayouf and Khalid Al Badwawi.
Bilal Al Salfah and Ali Moosa Shaiba are competing in the men's 100 metres, with the latter also contesting the 200 metres along with Omar Al Salfah. Mohammed Al Bolooshi is taking part in the 400 metres, while Saud Al Zaabi and Mayouf Mayouf are competing in the 800 metres. Saud Al Zaabi is also in the 1500 metres.
Mohammed Al Bolooshi, Bilal Al Salfah, Omar Al Salfah and Saud Al Zaabi are taking part in the 4x400 metres relay.
Alia will also be looking to defend her title in the women's 10,000 metres. She holds the meet record with a timing of 31:52.29 seconds.
India lead the medals tally with two gold medals, one silver and four bronze for a total of seven. China are second with two gold and a silver, while Kyrgyzstan are third with a lone gold.
The four-day event ends on Sunday.
james@khaleejtimes.com