After years of struggling to get on the podium at the Asian Games, the UAE have slowly gained ground on their continental rivals and can now be considered serious contenders in a number of events. The UAE made their Asian Games debut back in 1978 in Bangkok but it took them 16 years before they got their first medal – a silver and three bronze in the 1992 Hiroshima Games.
They reached new heights in 2006 in Doha, winning their first ever gold. It remains their most successful Asian campaign to date, having captured 10 medals including three gold in equestrian and body building.
Four years ago in Guangzhou, the Emiratis grabbed five medals – four silver and a bronze – and they are now expected to match their previous exploits or go even further in Incheon, South Korea, where the 2014 Asian Games officially commence on Friday (September 19).
A total of 81 Emiratis will compete in 13 different sports at the Games, which are due to conclude on October 4.
Several medallists from Guangzhou 2010 will be returning to the Asian Games, including star striker Saeed Al Kathiri, who claimed silver with the Mahdi Ali-led football team. The Al Wasl forward is one of three overage players – alongside Bandar Al Ahbabi and Sultan Bargash – joining the U23 squad in South Korea .
He proved instrumental in their opening game against India last Monday, providing a hat-trick en route to their 5-0 victory. The 26-year-old admits that a lot is expected from the young Whites but that it’s also difficult to compare the current team to the one that excelled under Mahdi Ali, who is now the coach of the senior national team, four years ago.
“What I can say is that each tournament has different circumstances. This is a different squad and a different generation,” Al Kathiri told Sport360°. “But I’m sure the desire to win in both generations – the one that won four years ago, and this one, is the same.
“We’re not feeling any pressure. All Emirati teams at the moment, the younger ones as well as the national first team are doing well so we need to keep that up and stay on track.
“We have a big name in football in the region right now and we need to honour that name.”
The UAE play their second Group G game against Jordan today.
Sheikh Juma bin Dalmook Al Maktoum is also another favourite for a medal in Incheon. The shooter, who won silver in Double Trap in Guangzhou, will be the flagbearer in Friday’s opening ceremony and takes part in the action on September 25.
In athletics, Ethiopian-born Emiratis Betlhem Belayneh and Alia Saeed – coached by former world champion Abdi Bile – will have a target on their backs as they tackle the middle distance and long distance events on the track.
Belayneh, 23, is a top contender in the 1500m and 5000m, having won gold in those two events in the Asian Athletics Championships in Pune last year. She will also take part in the 3000m steeplechase and 800m in Incheon. Saeed was a silver medallist in the 10,000m in Pune and the 23-year-old will be targeting medals in both the 5000m and 10000m in Korea.
Their coach however has shed some doubt on his protegees’s medal hopes. “I am always against making statements or predictions before competitions,” said Bile.
“All in all we had an incredible year last year but the beginning of this year we had some injuries which happens in sports and we have struggled. Thank God, things are going much better now.”
The showjumping team will be looking to claim a medal for a third consecutive Games, headlined by three-time medallist Sheikha Latifah Al Maktoum.
In judo, all eyes will be on Moldovan-born Victor Scvortov, who made history for the UAE by winning bronze in the 73kg event at the World Championships just last month in Tcheliabinsk, Russia.
