ASIAN YOUTH GAMES – BAHRAIN secured their best-ever classification on the final medal table in the history of Asian Youth Games yesterday.
Following 12 days of exciting competition in 26 sports held across the kingdom, the Bahraini delegation – the largest-ever for a continental age-group event with 204 athletes including 150 boys and 54 girls – bagged an incredible 13 medals.
These include five gold, five silver, and three bronze – won across eight sports, including mixed martial arts, weightlifting, 3x3 basketball, equestrian endurance, pencak silat, handball, jiu-jitsu, and Muay.
The Bahrainis’ winnings in this remarkable third edition of the mega multi-sport occasion, which was held under the patronage of His Majesty King Hamad, earned them 13th place overall on the medal standings. It marked a vast improvement from the first two times the Asian Youth Games were held.
In the inaugural edition in 2009 in Singapore, Bahrain won one bronze medal in the nine sports that took place. It came in athletics, where the relay squad of Ali Abdulla, Ali Aldoseri, Yunes Asabeel, and Faisal Mohammed finished third in the 4x200 metres relay. The Bahrainis had a 22-athlete contingent at the event.
In the second edition of the Asian Youth Games in 2013 held in Nanjing, China, where there was action in 16 sports, Bahrain again claimed one bronze medal, which came in boys’ handball. The national team featured 27 athletes then.
This year, Bahrain finished as the second-highest ranked Arab nation on the final medal table, which featured 36 of the participating 45 National Olympic Committees.
The UAE was the top-ranked Arab country in eighth place overall with 12 gold medals, nine silver, and 10 bronze for 31 overall. Saudi Arabia were classified just one place behind Bahrain with five gold, four silver, and 13 bronze for 22 medals.
China came away with the most medals in Bahrain, nearly doubling both the gold medals and the total of their closest challengers. The Chinese team won a whopping 63 gold, 49 silver, and 35 bronze medals for 147 in total, won across 19 sports. China were the only delegation to win more than 100 medals.
Uzbekistan finished second on the medal table with 37 gold, 16 silver, and 28 bronze for 81 in all; while Kazakhstan were third with 24 gold, 29 silver, and 40 bronze for 93 in total, which was the second-highest of this year’s Asian Youth Games.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))