DOHA, Qatar — Japan’s female star golfer Ai Miyazato, individual gold winner in Busan 2002, as well as India’s men’s ace Shiv Kapur will not be defending their titles at Doha 2006, providing the opportunity for new blood to come through with strong challenges coming from a number of top golfers from Korea, Japan, Chinese Taipei, India, Thailand and the Philippines.
Another rising star is track and field’s Saif Saaeed Shaheen of Qatar , who recently produced a spectacular finish to complete a long distance double for Asia when he won the 3,000m steeplechase after claiming his first gold in the 5,000m event of the IAAF World Cup in Athens this September.
Bahrain ‘s Yousef Kamel, men’s 800m gold medalist at the Athens World Cup, and Maryam Jamal, the women’s 1,500m champion, also delivered world-class performances and incredible success not only for their country but for Asia .
Japan also supplied a number of world-class athletes for Team Asia at the IAAF World Cup which included sprint champion Shingo Suetsugu (men’s 200m) Daichi Sawano (pole vault), Koji Murofoshi (hammer throw), Kayoko Fukushi (Women’s 5000m) and Miyori Hayakari (women’s 3000 steeplechase), just a few of Japan’s major medal prospects in Doha 2006.
Japanese runner Mizuki Noguchi set a new Asian record when she crossed the line of the 32nd Berlin City Marathon in 2005 and has also won the gold medal at the Athens Olympic Games, while Kuwait’s 400m runner Fawzi Al-Shammari won at Busan 2002 and at the 2005 West Asian Games in Doha and so has hammer thrower Ali Mohammed Zinkavi, who also won at the 2005 Asian Athletics Championships
Qatar’s chess couple of Mohamad Al-Modiahki, the country’s first grandmaster, and his wife Zhu Chen, the women’s grandmaster who is formerly of China and ranked number 10 in the world, will make formidable opponents at the Games, while Filipino chess prodigy Mark Paragua and grandmaster Rogelio Antonio are expected to yield impressive performances, with grandmasters from India, China, and Indonesia providing strong competition.
Karatedo’s Atsuko Wakai of Japan , gold winner at Busan 2002 and at the 2004 World Championships, and Takashi Katada, 2004 World Champion and 2005 Asian Champion, have both been successful throughout their young career.
Japan’s traditional supremacy in Karate at both Asian and international levels could be challenged by exponents from Vietnam , Malaysia and IR Iran at Doha 2006.
Weightlifter Ilya Ilyin of Kazakhstan, who is still a teenager, became the youngest world champion in Doha last year, while rhythmic gymnast Aliya Yussopova, who came fourth in the individual event at the Athens Olympic Games, should also do well in Doha.
China ‘s Tan Xue, the Athens Olympic women’s sabre silver medalist, and compatriot in the men’s foil Zhu Jun, 2005 Asian Fencing Championships gold winner, are both forces to be reckoned with.
Korea and China are expected to dominate the fencing competition and the Korean women’s foil team, which is currently the world champion, is the favorite for gold in Doha 2006.
In archery, Korea ‘s Park Sung Hyun, who won the women’s 70m individual event and contributed to her country’s gold in the team event at the Athens Olympiad, broke the world record but teammate Lee Sung Jin is the current world champion having defeated another compatriot, 15-year old Lee Tuk Young, in the finals of the World Championships.
The women’s event will also see Qatar ‘s multi-talented archery star Nadia Zaidan in competition, while men’s Hiroshi Yamamoto of Japan , who has had a long career at the top since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympiad, has incredibly maintained his good form and should be the man to beat in Doha .
Qatar’s Masoud Saleh Hamad, who won the gold in the men’s skeet in Busan 2002, will be confident of victory in shooting in front of his home crowd in Doha, while DPR Korea’s Kim Jong Su’s all-round excellence with the pistol, which saw him win the gold, three silvers and three bronze medals in Busan, rivaled China’s Wang Yifu who has been at the top of his sport for two decades and has won a medal in every Olympic Games since 1984.
Malaysians Moh Putra Abdul Ghani, Mohd Normanizam Ahmad and Mohd Zulkarnain Arif were feted after beating their archrivals from Thailand in the men’s sepaktakraw team gold at the 2005 Philippine SEA Games, while amongst the women, Thailand’s Kanjana Yanyajan, Thi Vui Tran of Vietnam and Yuzhu Jin of China were the outstanding stars in Busan 2002.
Women’s world judo champion Sun-Hui Key of DPR Korea is a major gold medal prospect for her country, while compatriot Ri Yong Chol of wrestling, who has twice won the Asian Championships in the 60kg event, is also expected to be competing for medals.
Competition in the forthcoming Asian Games Doha 2006 will be more open than ever before to so many young and rising sports stars from the region, which has produced some of the world’s most talented athletes.