HANGZHOU, China: Saudi Arabia’s show jumping team have been crowned Asian Games winners for a second time after clinching gold at the 19th Asian Games (Hangzhou 2022) on Wednesday.
Saudi show jumpers Ramzy Al-Duhami, Abdullah Al-Sharbatly, Abdulrahman Al-Rajhi and Mishari Al-Harbi won their country’s third gold medal in the Hangzhou games. The show jumping team were also victorious at the Jakarta 2018 games.
The Saudi team secured gold at Hangzhou after completing the first and second rounds without any errors.
Prince Fahd bin Jalawi, head of the Saudi delegation, and Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee vice president, attended the equestrian events in Hangzhou.
The Saudi show jumpers completed the final round faultlessly in a time of 111.83 secs. The Qataris ranked second ahead of the Emirati team.
The win on Wednesday lifts Saudi Arabia’s medal tally to six, with three gold, two silver and one bronze.
Al-Duhami described the victory as an “indescribable feeling,” and hoped that their success would inspire more medals in the individual competition.
Basketball
The Green Falcons basketball team defeated Japan 79-74 in the classifications deciding the positions from fifth to eighth on Wednesday. The team will face Iran in the match that decides fifth and sixth places on Friday.
Athletics
In the javelin, Saudi athlete Ali Al-Abdulghani left the games having ranked seventh with a throw of 73.45 meters. Meanwhile, distance runner Tariq Al-Omari finished eighth in the 5,000-meters race with a time of 14:02:94 minutes.
Hangzhou breaks records
Hangzhou 2022 has broken the record for the number of participating athletes in Asian Games and Summer Olympic Games, with over 12,500 competitors representing 45 Asian countries in more than 40 sports (61 disciplines, 481 events and 481 gold medals).
Hangzhou 2022 is China’s third Asian Games to be hosted after Beijing 1990 and Guangzhou 2010.
Chinese contingent
The Chinese delegation participating in the current Games is the largest, with a total of 800 athletes. In terms of Arab countries, Saudi Arabia has 193 athletes in 19 sports, Bahrain has 232 athletes in 17 sports, Kuwait has 141 athletes in 25 sports, Qatar has 180 athletes in 27 sports, the UAE has 140 athletes in 20 sports, Oman has 44 athletes in seven sports, Jordan has 89 athletes in 16 sports, and Palestine has 70 athletes in seven sports.
