Staff Reporter
Nagoya: Team Qatar’s athletes continued their impressive campaign at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya 2026, securing two track and field medals, a gold and a bronze, to raise the nation’s overall tally to seven medals: three gold, two silver and two bronze.
Bassem Hemeida claimed gold in the men’s 400m hurdles, clocking 47.82 seconds at Mizuho Park Stadium in Nagoya. The victory marked a significant step up from the silver he won at the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou and underlined his growing stature in Asian athletics. “This medal is the fruit of immense effort put in since the previous Asian Games. Thank God, it culminated in winning the gold. I feel proud to raise Qatar’s flag high at this major Asian event,” Hemeida said. He credited the tactical guidance of Khalifa Abdulmalik, Director of National Teams, and noted that the absence of teammate Abderrahman Samba due to injury only strengthened his resolve to deliver for Qatar.
In the same session, Zakaria Ibrahim, making his Asian Games debut at the age of 22, secured bronze in the 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 8:18.13. The young athlete was the youngest competitor in the final. “I am overjoyed to have won the bronze. Although I was aiming for silver, I faced some challenges; nevertheless, I am happy to stand on the podium,” Ibrahim said. “This was my first time participating in the Asian Games. Thank God I won the bronze medal, which will serve as a major motivator for the future.” He thanked the Athletics Federation for its support through carefully planned training camps.
The first gold of the Games came from the national shooting team of Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah, Rashid Saleh Al-Athba and Ali Ahmed Al-Ishaq in the team skeet event. Al-Athba then added an individual skeet gold. Karate athlete Abdulrahman Mustafa took silver in the men’s under-60kg category, while Abdullah Rashad Mohieddin Babiker earned bronze in the under-84kg division. The national 3x3 basketball team also claimed silver.
Beyond athletics, the national handball team advanced to the final after a hard-fought 32-30 semi-final victory over South Korea. The match remained tightly contested throughout, with Qatar trailing early before levelling at 16-16 at half-time and eventually pulling clear in the closing stages. The side will face Bahrain in the final as it seeks to retain the gold medal it has held for the past three editions. Team administrator Yousef Al-Moallem said: “Beating the Korean team was by no means easy; the match was intense and closely contested right up to the final minutes, but, thank God, we managed to clinch the win. We must now put the Korea match behind us and focus entirely on today’s final against Bahrain.”
In volleyball, Qatar secured a 3-0 win over Vietnam (25-23, 28-26, 25-19) to confirm progression to the second round after earlier defeating Hong Kong. The team faces India in its final group match to determine top spot in Group C. Beach volleyball pairs Cherif Younousse/Ahmed Tijan and Moussa Al-Khair/Mohamed Ihab entered the Round of 16, with General Supervisor Mohammed Salem Al-Kuwari emphasising the heightened challenge of knockout matches. In padel, Mohammed Saadon Al-Kuwari and Hassan Wali fell 2-1 to Kazakhstan in their opening encounter. Weightlifter Fares Ibrahim finished seventh in the 95kg category with a total of 340kg, while Wissal Yakhlef was set to compete in the 86kg class.
The Al-Adaam 4x400m relay team qualified for the final with a season-best 3:01.71, while Saif Abdulsalam, Abubaker Abdalla and Hatem Hameed prepared for their respective finals in pole vault and 800m. With the Games continuing until October 4, Team Qatar remains focused on adding further medals across multiple disciplines.