Imranur Rahman had earlier hinted that retaining the gold medal would be difficult. Last time in Kazakhstan he brought gold medal to Bangladesh. He was close to becoming the first player to win the Asian Indoor Athletics 60m sprint for the second time in a row. But could not. However, he strongly expressed his desire to return stronger in the future.
Imranu’s own favorite event was far from a gold medal, he couldn’t even finish in the top three. Among the eight people, the fastest man in Bangladesh was the fourth! Time taken is 6.67 seconds.
Imranur said after the game, ‘I fell a little behind in the Tehran championship this time. The preparation was not good. But I gave my best. Sorry to disappoint you. But I am very grateful for the support always. We will come back stronger. Inshallah.’
Oman’s Ali Anwar Ali Al Balushi won the gold in this event. He clocked 6.52 seconds. Silver went to Japan and bronze to North Korea.
Japan’s Suhee and North Korea’s Jo Yeom clocked 6.56 and 6.66 to get silver and bronze respectively. Imran could have won the bronze even if he had timed his hit.
After Bangladeshi sprinter Zaheer Raihan, the expectations around Imranur were not low this time. He won the gold medal in the last event held in Kazakhstan. But today it could not be held.
Earlier, Imranu took part in the first heat of Bangladesh and came second with a timing of 6.60 seconds. He took 0.02 seconds less time in the semi-final heat than in the preliminary heat.
Bangladeshi athletes won two medals in the Asian Indoor despite limited facilities. However, the federation did not get any success despite investing money after Imranur from London. Instead, Zaheer-Mahfuzur has been neglected. Will the federation look at the local athletes?
#stronger #Imranur