Today's Edition
Dubai (Aletihad)
Veteran UAE Paralympic star Mohammed Khamis Khalaf is taking confidence from a sixth-place finish in a new weight category – at short notice – at the 13th Fazza Dubai Para Powerlifting World Cup on the penultimate day.
His campaign as an individual is over with the team events slated for the final day of the competition at the Dubai Club for People of Determination.
The veteran star, who is likely to qualify for Paris 2024 in the men's up to 97kg category having placed sixth in the Paralympic rankings, went down to compete in men's up to 88kg at the Dubai 2024. He managed a lift of 200 kg to end sixth in Best Lift. China's Yan Panpan clinched the gold with his best lift of 220kg.
The successful lift of 200kg by Khalaf, the senior statesman by age, was enough though to fetch him the gold in the Legend category and a new Asian record.
The 55-year-old has competed in all five Summer Paralympics since 2004. A shoulder injury nixed his attempt to add a second successive -88kg Paralympic gold at Tokyo in 2021 after starting with a gold in the -82.5kg class in 2004 and a silver in the 90kg at the 2008 Games.
"It's part of our preparation for Paris 2024, and I am trying to qualify for Paris 2024 in men's -88kg category. It was an important event to try the new weight category in which I already had won medals before. Overall, it was a good event and I feel confident with my lift of 200kg," said Khalaf who had to lose five-six kilogrammes in just one week to compete in Dubai.
The two-time Paralympic champion further said he feels confident in the new weight category and would be happy to participate at Paris 2024 in men's -88kg category.
"My training starts during the Ramadan, and I hope gain more power to go up in my lifts in the coming months," added the 54-year-old, who will be participating in the Thailand and Tbilisi 2024 World Cups, in the quest of qualifying for Paris in men's -88kg category.
Earlier, local player Haifa Alnaqbi took the silver medal in women's -73kg category. Though the medal will not be counted for the Paris 2024 Paralympic qualification rankings, it will boost her confidence in the preparation.
She finished fourth in the Best Lift classification. In the overall picture, China lead the medals table with 22 golds from their total of 31 medals at the venue in Al Qusais.
Some of China's best women powerlifters including Paralympic and World stars Tan Yujiao (women's -67kg), Cui Jianjin (women's -61kg) Liye Lao (women's -73kg) and Feifei Zheng (women's +86kg) dominated the bench to win the gold and push themselves up in the Paralympic qualification rankings list.
