The penultimate day of the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta-Palembang proved frustrating for the UAE after both judokas and the sailing and cycling teams failed to reach the podium on Friday.
Ivan Remarenco came closest to winning a medal before losing to Sherali Juraev of Uzbekistan in the fight for third place in judo’s 100-kilolgram class, but Sergiu Toma’s early exit was a major shock.
The 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medallist fell to an ippon – the equivalent of a knockout in judo – from Shakhzodbek Sabirov in Round of 16 in the 90kg division.
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Remarenco progressed to the semi-final after victories over Avtar Singh of India by ippon and Viktor Demyanenko of Kazakhstan by waza-ari before losing to South Korean Cho Gu-ham.
In sailing, Hamza Al Ali was placed 13th in the Laser Standard, while both Saif Al Mansooori and Salama Al Mansoori finished down the order in the Open Laser 4.7.
In track cycling, the UAE finished in ninth spot above Macau, Malaysia and Thailand in the Men’s Madison category. The rugby team lost their third game to South Korea to finish in the bottom of Group C.
Looking ahead to Saturday – the final day of competitions – Mohsen Al Ali and Ahmed Al Fahim are the UAE’s last hopes of winning a medal when they lineup in the men’s triathlon.
The UAE has so far accumulated 13 medals – three gold, six silver and four bronze – to achieve their most successful ever Asian Games, improving on their previous best of 10 medals won at the Doha Games in 2006.
