Zhou wins marathon for China, Jamal takes gold for Bahrain

Dec 9, 2006, 15:03 GMT

Doha, Qatar - Chinese athlete Xhou Chunxiu on Saturday won the women's marathon at the 15th Asian Games, while Ethiopian-born Maryam Yusuf Jamal won the women's 800m for Bahrain.

Xhou, who took the gold from two Japanese runners Kiyoko Shimahara and Kayoko Obata, said that she had been satisfied with her run.

'I was in good shape. I have been training very hard for this event and I was confident that I could perform well. I am satisfied, although my time (2:27.03 hours) could have been better,' she said.

In the women's 800m event, Jamal, who is hoping to win the 1,500m as well, won comfortably in a time of 2:01.79 minutes, edging out Indian Santhi Soundarajan and Viktoriya Yalovtseva from Kazakhstan for second and third place respectively.

The women's heptathlon event was won by Kazakhstan's Olga Rypakova. Soma Biswas from India took the silver, while her team- mate JJ Shoba was third.

In the men's long jump Saudi Arabia took the gold and the bronze, with Hussain Taher Al Saba winning with a jump of 8.02m. Second place went to Kuwaiti athlete Saleh Al Hadad, who jumped a personal best of 7.88m.

Al Saba's team-mate Ahmed Faez Bin Marzouq, who had been the furthest in the qualifying session, won bronze with a leap of 7.85m.

Saturday's later session in the Khalifa stadium sees a further four athletic finals, including the men and women's 100m sprint.