UAE sailor Hamad Al Hammadi will kick off the country’s participation in the ongoing Summer Youth Olympic Games today as he lines up for the Byte CII race at Jinniu Lake in Nanjing, China.
The second edition of the Youth Olympic Games began on Saturday and four Emirati athletes are scheduled to take part throughout the 12-day event.
Sharjah Ladies Club shooter Yasmin Tahlak will be in action tomorrow as she returns to the Fangshan Shooting Hall, the same venue she competed in when she booked her qualification spot last year, placing 10th at the Asian Youth Games in Nanjing.
Tahlak will be flaunting her skills in the 10m air rifle event, hoping to finish in the top eight in qualification to secure a place in the final, scheduled to be held later in the day.
In swimming, Ali Al Kaabi will participate in the 50m butterfly on Wednesday.
Al Kaabi is one of two swimmers – Yaaqoub Al Saadi is the other – who were the first Emirati swimmers to ever qualify for a major swimming event after they both achieved B-standard timings at last April’s Dubai International Aquatic Championships.
However, both swimmers were unable to travel to Nanjing after the International Olympic Committee set a new quota that gave the UAE just one place at the Games instead of two.
Al Saadi was chosen to represent the Emirates before a last-minute change placed Al Kaabi in the field instead due to the latter swimmer being in better form at the moment.
Fatma Al Hosani begins her discus throw campaign on Wednesday in the qualification stages at the Nanjing OSC Stadium.
The four Emirati athletes are accompanied by their coaches and Ahmed Al Falasi, who is the head of the delegation, president of the UAE Swimming Federation and National Olympic Committee member.
“I believe we have better chances in shooting and sailing since they depend more on concentration and accuracy, while sports like swimming and discus throw are going to be tougher for us since they depend more on timing and distance where the competition will be very intense,” said Al Falasi.
