Fourth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) to be held in Incheon, South Korea

BAHRAIN’s nationals resumed their training programme for this month’s Fourth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG), to be held in Incheon, in South Korea.

Two of Bahrain’s hopefuls will represent the kingdom in this eight-day event, scheduled to take place from June 29 to July 6.

Promising junior Farhan Saleh Faraj is due to compete in the men’s 50m, 100m and 200m style events, while 23-year-old Sameera Al Bitar will participate in the women’s 50m and 100m freestyle contests, as well in the 50m breaststroke.

According to Bahrain Swimming Association’s National Teams Committee head Tareq Juma, the pair have been training on daily basis at Khalifa Sports City’s international swimming pool in Isa Town.

They will continue taking similar sessions in the coming few days in order to improve the swimmers’ overall physical readiness ahead of the Games.

Juma said that choosing the Bahrain swimmers was based on their performance in recent competitions, noting that the outstanding results achieved during this year’s GCC Championship held in Kuwait in April were part of the selection criteria.

Sameera is also a two-time Olympic swimmer, having taken part in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, where she completed the 50m race with a personal best of 31.00 seconds, enough to win her heat but not enough to advance to the next round.

She again represented Bahrain at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and won her heat in the 50m freestyle. Her time of 30.32 was well ahead of second-place finisher in her heat, Benin's Gloria Koussihouede (at 37.09), but nonetheless insufficient to advance to the next round.

Sameera also represented Bahrain in four World Championships (Barcelona, 2003; Montreal, 2005; Melbourne, 2007; Rome, 2009), and the 2006 Asian Games in Doha and Qatar.

On the other hand, the Asian Indoor Games represents a true opportunity for the much younger Farjan to capture more experience and confidence, which would be crucial for his future challenges.

The AIMAG will be the first OCA Games to combine the Asian Indoor Games and the Asian Martial Arts Games. It Provides a large-scale regional competitive arena for a wide range of categories such as Muay Thai, dance sport, billiards, futsal and electronic gaming over 100 events.

Featuring nine sports, the Fourth AIMAG will be a high-profile test event for the 17th Asian Games in Incheon the following year.

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