Iran’s Farajzadeh sets new world-record in shot put F34 – Tunisia’s Ktila, Tlili win their 2nd golds, Qatar’s Abdelqader falls short

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DOHA, Qatar, Oct 27: Qatar’s para-athletics hero, Abdelrahman Abdelqader narrowly missed out on a bronze medal at Qatar Sports Club tonight, throwing a season’s best that put him just centimetres outside of medal contention.

Abdelqader fought formidably with the best athletes in the world to finish just short of a podium finish in an incredibly strong field. Elsewhere in the competition, it was a successful night for the region with medals for Tunisia, Morocco, the UAE and Algeria.

Abdelrahman’s improvement in para-athletics has been outstanding. A self-proclaimed slow-starter in the sport, Abdelqader won Asian Para-Games gold in Incheon last year and broke the world-record just last month at the GCC Para-Athletics Championships.

Despite furthering that distance in tonight’s competition with a throw of 10.80, Mauricio Valencia of Colombia threw 10.93 with his last attempt of the competition to edge narrowly ahead of Abdelqaderand take the bronze medal. It was an Iranian one-two with Saleh Farajzadeh throwing an immense 11.52 to set a new world-record and finish in gold medal position ahead of team-mate Mohsen Kaedi’s silver.

Speaking after the competition, Abdelqader said:

“I feel like I gained a lot from this experience. The competition was extremely tough and I learnt that I have to keep pushing even if I am in a medal position”.

There was further success for the region this evening with Walid Ktila and Raoua Tlili winning their second gold medals each for Tunisia and Abdelillah Mame of Morocco winning a shock gold ahead of team-mate and pre-race favourite El Amin Chentouf, who finished third. Raoua Tlili won gold in the Women’s shot put F41, having previously won gold in the Women’s discus F41 with a new world-record last Friday.

Speaking after her victory, Tlili said:

“This is my speciality, I am happy because I have maintained my level, it is my second gold medal in these championships and I am very proud of that.  I am excited to go to Rio, I hope that I can win two more gold medals”.

Walid Ktila continued his dominance in the T34 sprint events with victory in the Men’s 800m F34. Ktila had already won gold in the 400m T34 and is still to compete in the 100m and 200m T34 with hopes of matching his four gold medals at the Lyon 2013 World Championships.

He beat Paralympic silver medalist, Mohamed Hammadi of the UAE into second place, in a repeat of the London 2012 Paralympic final.

Speaking after his victory, Ktila said:

“I’m happy to be here. I felt like I was a good ambassador for my country and I worked hard all season and these efforts are bearing fruit now. I’d like to thank all Tunisians who supported me – they encouraged me to do my best”.

Morocco’s El Amin Chentoufwas the pre-race favourite in the Men’s 1,500m T13 final. However, the three times World Champion and London 2012 Paralympic Champion could only finish third in a close and exhilarating final.

Abdelillah Mame, who last won a 1,500m World Championships title in 2006, surged down the finishing straight to take gold, beating Algeria’s Abdellatif Baka into second place – Baka’s second silver at Doha 2015.

Speaking after the race, Mame said:

“It was a very hard race, I got very tired in the last few meters, but I won in the end. I have many championship titles but to win here in Doha means a lot to me”.

In the Men’s 5,000m T54, Thailand’s Rawat Tana stole the show for a second time during these World Championships storming to victory for his second gold medal ahead of world-record holder, Marcel Hug of Switzerland.

The hype ahead of the World Championships had been all about the rivalry between Hug and multiple World and Paralympic Champion, David Weir of Great Britain. However, Weir could not find his form and had to settle for seventh position, enabling Hug to beat him for the first time in a major Championships.

Speaking after his victory, Tana said: “I am very happy to have won gold in 1,500 and 5,000m in Doha”.

Meanwhile, Hug was still content with his silver medal placing:

“I feel exhausted, the competition was very tough, but of course I am happy with the second place. I enjoy the competition and everything has been going very well here. Tomorrow I have one more race then I will be focusing on Rio”.

The competition continues tomorrow with Team Qatar in action again in the evening session when Asian Para-Games Champion, Mohamed al Kubaisi, and Khalid Hamad al-Hajiri line up in the Men’s 100m T34. The morning session will run from 9.30 am-12:00 pm, whilst the evening session will run from 4:00 pm-10:00 pm.

You can get your tickets online at https://doha2015.q-tickets.com, in Villaggio, Landmark and City Centre malls, as well as in ticket booths at the ground. Children below the age of four and pensioners aged 60+ go for free. All proceeds will be donated to charity.

Qatar Airways and Ooredoo are also providing the opportunity for crowds to win prizes including flights, iPhones, iPads and Galaxy S6’s.

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