GUANGZHOU, China: Mohammed Othman Shaween came from behind to defend his title in the men’s 1,500 meters at the Asian Games on Tuesday.Othman plays for Jeddah-based Al-Ahli Club. He expressed his great happiness over the achievement, saying that it reflected the support players receive from the Saudi Youth Welfare Presidency (SYWP). He said that he had an ambition to win a gold medal. He attributed his success to Prince Sultan Bin Fahd, president of the SYWP.Shaween took over on the last lap from Saudi Arabia teammate Emad Hamed Noor, who led for the first three laps then faded at the end, and finished at 3 minutes, 36.49 seconds. Finishing second was Sajad Moradi of Iran at 3:37.09. The bronze went to Belal Mansoor of Bahrain at 3:38.39.
“I expected it to be harder, but it still wasn’t easy,” Shaween said. “Our Iranian colleague was tough. I was out with an injury until August, but that was lucky for me because I was in good shape for this race.” Shaween said Noor suggested the winning strategy. “He asked me to be patient, follow him and rush in the last 100 meters,” Shaween said.All the winning marks were well off regional and world records, prompting criticism that the Asian Games, an Olympic-style event held once every four years, are not producing results fitting for a continent that represents two-thirds of the world’s population.“The quality of the competition is good, but one of the problems that we have in Asia is that our season is too long,” 1,500 champion Shaween said. “The Americans and Europeans are finished now, but we in Asia don’t know when we are supposed to finish. This is especially a problem for us in my region – Arabnews
