Wrestler Adam Batirov yesterday (Friday) has touched down in Ashgabat, in Turkmenistan, where he will fight for Bahrain’s final medal quest at the ongoing Fifth edition of the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games.
The 32-year-old Bahraini will be competing for his country’s third medal at the games on Monday, September 25, when the Men’s Freestyle -70 kg weight group events gets underway at 4pm (Bahrain time).
Winner of last year’s Asian Championship’s under-70kg gold medal, Batirov will be looking to improve on his last major appearance at the Rio 2016 Olympics in the FS 65kg category, where he lost in the Round of 16 to Ikhtiyor Navruzov of Uzbekistan.
Batirov, who created a name for himself in the world of martial arts, progressed into Rio Olympics last year after dominating the World Olympic Games qualifying tournament held in Mongolia.
Upon arrival, he expressed confidence to bring another medal for Bahrain in Ashgabat and vowed to extend his hard work and effort in a bid to achieve another feat on the international level.
The Bahraini hopeful thanked Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, president of the Bahrain Olympic Committee, for supporting him to be able to compete at such high scale in the game of wrestling.
Meanwhile, Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation president and Bahrain chef de mission Shaikh Faisal bin Rashid Al Khalifa received in Ashgabat representatives of the Bahrain media, the Bahrain taekwondo team and umpires at a special gathering at Yyldz Hotel.
Shaikh Faisal welcomed the audience and commended the efforts of the media to promote this event as well as the Kingdom of Bahrain teams taking part.
Late on, Shaikh Faisal and media representatives had open discussions on sports in Bahrain in general, and the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, in specific.
Also present at the reception were Bahrain Olympic Committee general secretary and chef de mission deputy Abdulrahman Askar and other delegation officials.
Nine athletes are representing Bahrain in three sports disciplines – jiu jitsu, taekwondo and wrestling – during this 12-day games. Wrestler Adam Batirov holds Bahrain’s final hope at the games.
Bahrain’s medals were won by Ali Munfaredi and Ahmed Shebeeb, who took the jiu jitsu men’s under-77kg gold and bronze, respectively on Monday.