The UAE’s Alia Saeed got off to a sensational start at the 20th Asian Athletics Championships by claiming the silver medal in the 10,000 metres to qualify for next month’s World Championships in Moscow.

Despite the rain in Pune, it was a fast-paced race that saw Bahrain’s Shitaye Eshete Habtegebr defend her title and set a new championship record of 32:17.29.

Saeed, 22, was part of the leading trio – along with the Bahraini Habtegebr and Japan’s Ayumi Hagiwara – from the start and the Ethiopian-born Emirati managed to maintain her pace to seal second place in a time of 32:39.39.

Habtegebr became the first non-Chinese to win the 10,000m twice in the championships’ history.

“This is a fantastic result from Alia,” President of the UAE Athletics Federation Ahmad Al Kamali told Sport360°. “It was a very fast-paced race from the start and she did a great job to keep up.

“Our eyes will now focus on our athlete Betty (Betlhem Belayneh), who will contest one of the strongest races in the whole championships – the 1,500m tomorrow. I believe she can win the gold but she will face stiff competition from Bahrain’s Mimi Gebregeorgis and Maryam Jamal.”

Earlier in the day, UAE’s Saoud Abdulkareem qualified to the final of the 400m, clocking 47.05 seconds in the semi-finals following his 47.67-second dash in the preliminary heats.

The men’s 400m final will take place today at 17:45 (UAE time). The opening day also saw Saudi Arabia earn its first gold medal of the five-day meet through shot put Asian record holder Sultan Abdulmajeed Al Hebshi, who threw a distance of 19.68m.

China’s Xue Changrui won the men’s pole vault event, clearing 5.60 metres, while Sachiko Masumi won Japan’s first gold medal since 1979, recording 6.55 metres in the women’s long jump competition at the championships.

A total of five UAE athletes have made the trip to Pune this week as UAE’s Khalifa Ibrahim (200m) and Jasim Mustafa (long jump) join Belayneh, Saeed and Abdulkareem in the country’s quest for Asian medals.

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– UAE begin medal hunt at Asian Athletics Championships

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