Ahmed Al Mansouri seals historic cycling bronze for UAE at Asian Games

Emirati becomes first Arab to win medal on track after finishing third in the men’s omnium in China

Ahmed Al Mansouri after winning omnium bronze for the UAE at the Asian Games. Photo: Kamel Abdallah

Ahmed Al Mansouri clinched a historic cycling bronze at the Asian Games on Thursday as he became first Arab to win a medal on the track.

The Emirati finished third behind Kazushige Kuboki of Japan and Hong Kong’s Ka Yu Leung in the men’s omnium at the Chu’nan Jeishou Sports Centre Velodrome.

Al Mansouri’s medal added to the judokas tally of one gold, a silver and three bronze leaving the UAE 16th in the medals table.

His efforts come after winning the first gold for the UAE at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Turkey last year.

Yousuf Mirza, technical director of the UAE national cycling team, confirmed that cyclist Ahmed Al Mansouri said: “Ahmed’s achievement was massive as he becomes the first Arab cyclist to win a medal on the track.

“We always thought he had the potential to win something like this and we are glad he’s done it for us. He presented a powerful performance against strong riders for which he deserved to win the bronze.

“This will be a huge incentive for our national cycling team to win more medals at this level. The sport is really taking shape in the UAE and Ahmed’s achievement is really a celebration for us.”

Elsewhere, Natalie Lankester’s hopes of a medal in the dressage freestyle ended as she finished 12th of the 15 finalists on Cash DXB.

Malaysian Bin Mahamad Ambak on Rosenstolz won gold with Jacqueline Wing Ying of Hong Kong (Jockey Club Huittharien) and Indian Anush Agarwalla (Etro) taking silver and bronze respectively.

In boxing, Sultan Al Nuaimi’s medal hopes ended when he went down to Pakistani Zohaib Rasheed by unanimous decision in the 51-kilogram round of 16.

UAE's basketball team suffered their second consecutive defeat when going down to Kazakhstan 59-49, after losing to Iran in the opener.