The UAE’s hunt for a first medal at the Asian Games in Incheon continues after cyclist Yousif Mirza barely missed out on the podium in the omnium race yesterday, as Kuwait won the first Arab gold in squash.

The 25-year-old Emirati had entered the second day of the omnium ranked fifth after three events, having won the opening 15km scratch race. 

But his 10th place in both the 1km time trial and the flying lap 330m time trial dented his chances. Mirza finished strong with a third place in the 40km points race but fell just four points short of a medal, settling for fourth overall.

The cycling competition will next move from the track to the road, where Mirza is more experienced and has a better chance of making the podium. 

Meanwhile in the pool, UAE’s Mohamed Jasim Al Muhairi was seventh in his 50m freestyle heat and ranked 23rd overall out of 42 swimmers, as he clocked 24.54 seconds.

Dubai resident and Hamilton Aquatics swimmer, Mohammed Madouh of Kuwait, swam a respectable 23.51 to come fourth in his heat, and rank 13th overall. He missed out on a spot in the final by 0.23 seconds.

There was still reason to celebrate for the Gulf kingdom though as Abdullah Al Mezayen claimed Kuwait’s first gold medal of the Games in squash with a remarkable 10-12, 2-11, 14-12, 11-8, 11-9 win over India’s world No16 Saurav Ghosal.