Sharjah 2019: Two golds for Alaryani

The International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS) World Games gathered pace on Wednesday (13 February) as competitions in more sports began in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Shooting

The UAE’s Abdullah Sultan Alaryani added two more golds to his tally on the shooting range on the final day of competition.

The home favourite led two more of his teammates onto the podium in R3 (mixed 10m air rifle prone SH1). Alnuaimi Saif and Obaid Al Dahmani claimed second and third respectively.

Alaryani was also triumphant in R6 (mixed 50m rifle prone SH1). Germany’s Elke Seeliger followed him in second place. The UAE’s Abdullah Saif Alaryani took his latest podium in Sharjah with bronze.

In R5 (mixed 10m air rifle prone SH2), Switzerland’s Nicole Haeusler was the victor. India’s Sriharsha Devaraddi Ramakrishina was second and Austria’s Johann Windhofer was third.

Athletics

The sport began at the Al Thiqah Sports Club.

The UAE enjoyed their latest gold medal success to follow on from shooting, courtesy of Ahmed Alhousani in the men’s javelin F33.

Alhousani threw 18.59m with just his second throw to beat Algeria’s Kamel Kardjena (17.42m). The UAE’s Hassan Ali Obai Malaleih (15.25m) rounded off the podium.

India’s Balasubramanian Rajkumar won the men’s 200m T40.

In the other men’s 200m final, which was a mixed class event, Algeria’s T37 sprinter Sofiane Hamdi claimed gold with 853 points.

Germany’s Lindy Ave, a T38 athlete, grabbed gold in the women’s 100m T37/38/45/47 with 910 points. South Africa’s Sheryl James (859 points) followed Ave onto the podium ahead of Germany’s Isabelle Foerder (411 points).

Table tennis

South Korean players took away three gold medals on day one.

Byung Jung Song won both his matches against Thai silver medallist Thirayu Chueawong and Kazakhstan’s Bereket Akzhigitov in the men’s singles class 2 to top his group.

Cha-Soo Kang progressed through the knock-out stages of the men’s singles class 5, beating teammate Jang Sub-Choi to the gold.

South Korea’s final gold came in the men’s single class 4 as the country’s players also secured silver and bronze.

Swimming

Thailand’s Monruedee Kangpila joined teammate Phuchit Aingcaiyaphum in topping the podium in the women’s and men’s 100m freestyle respectively.

Multiple Paralympian Kardo Ploompiuu, an S10 swimmer, was another standout athlete as he touched in first to claim 597 points in the men’s mixed class 100m backstroke featuring S8-S10 swimmers.

Wheelchair fencing

The final individual medal events took place on Wednesday.

Poland’s Grzegorz Pluta emerged victorious from his gold medal match with Italian world champion Alessio Sarri in the men’s sabre category B, 15-13.

“Alessio is a very good athlete – very fast and with a very good technique so every time when we are fighting together the matches are very difficult,” Pluta said.

China’s Haiyan Gu ended her campaign with gold in the women’s sabre category A. The Asian champion overcame Ukraine’s world title-holder Nataliia Morkvych 15-6.

Greece’s Ntounis Vasileios won the first World Cup of his career in the men’s sabre A. The 28-year-old took on Great Britain’s Piers Gilliver in the final and eased past him 15-8.

Georgia’s Irma Khetsuriani beat Ukraine’s European Olena Fedota 15-10 in the women’s sabre B.

The 2019 IWAS World Games continue until 16 February. More than 500 athletes from 50 countries are competing in seven sports across three venues.