Dubai 2016: Day three preview

World champions line up on the third day of the IPC Athletics Asia-Oceania Championships in the UAE. 09 Mar 2016
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Man with prosthetic leg jumping in a stadium

Japan's Atsushi Yamamoto in action at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Ⓒ© Marcus Hartmann
By IPC

Two reigning world gold medallists take centre stage on the third day of competition (Wednesday, 9 March) at the IPC Athletics Asia-Oceania Championships in Dubai, UAE.

Mohamad Ridzuan Mohamad Puzi will be a hot favourite on Wednesday. The Malaysian holds the world title in the 100m T36, as well as the silver medal from the 2014 Asian Para Games in Incheon, South Korea.

Hong Kong’s duo of Ka Kin Yuen and Wing Sum Chan, as well as China’s Yifei Yang, will be hoping to get the better of the 28-year-old Yang.

Japan’s Atsushi Yamamoto also excelled in Doha 2015, where he retained his world long jump T42 title with a championship record of 6.29m.

But Yamamoto took silver behind Sri Lanka’s Anil Prasanna Jayalath Yodha Pedige in the 200m T42 earlier this week; Yodha Pedige will be hoping to upset the form book again Wednesday in the men’s long jump T42.

Getting the better of Yamamoto – who also beat Yodha Pedige to long jump gold at the Asian Para Games – will surely be tough.

India’s Amit Kumar Kumar – who started his para-sports career playing wheelchair rugby – also reached the podium in Doha 2015, winning the silver in the men’s club throw F51.

The 31-year-old set an Asian record of 25.44m then, and he will be hoping to impress again in the men’s club throw F31/32/51, where he lines up against a field including four other World Championship finalists: the UAE’s Humaid Alhammadi (F32) and his compatriot Zeyed Alharthi (F32); Kuwait’s Mohammad Nasser (F32) and Saudia Arabia’s Radhi Alharthi (F51).

Papa New Guinea’s Regina Edward will be hoping to pick up her second gold of the week having won the discus Tuesday. On Wednesday, she throws in the shot put F44.

Saudia Arabia’s Hani Alnakhli (F33) also has one Asia-Oceania Championship gold to his name already; he won the men’s discus throw F33/34 on Monday and lines up in the javelin F33/34 on Wednesday.

The 29-year-old Asian record holder will have to get past the likes of Qatar’s Asian Para Games bronze medallist Abdulrahman Abdulqadir Abdulrahman (F34).

Expect plenty of entertainment in the men’s shot put F40/41 as Iraq’s Ahmed Naas (F40), his countryman Wildan Nukhailawi (F41), and China’s Tongqing Shen (F41) go head-to-head again.

The trio won gold, silver and bronze respectively in the javelin on Monday, and they are joined Wednesday by Kazakhstan’s Alexey Lukutin (F40) and Kuwait’s Abdullah Alsaif (F40), both Worlds finalists last year.

Incheon 2014 champion Surang Khamsuk of Thailand lines up in the women’s javelin F46 alongside the likes of UAE’s Mariam Matroushi, who missed out on a medal in Doha 2015, finishing fourth.

On the track, there will be a battle for gold in the women’s 800m T20 between the Japanese pair Moeko Yamamoto and Makiko Toyoshima, who finished fifth and sixth respectively at the 2015 World Championships. Toyoshima has already enjoyed international success having won 1,500m T20 gold at the 2014 Asian Para Games.

Rounding off action on day three is the men’s 5,000m T13, which features the Asian record holder from Iran, Ali Elahi (T12).

More than 220 athletes from 24 countries will take part in the first ever IPC Athletics Asia-Oceania Championships, which runs until 12 March.

A livestream is available via the Dubai 2016 website and live results are also available online.