High praise from Bahrain's Shaikh Talal

Bahrain Athletics Association President Shaikh Talal bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, believes the organization of the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou is at the same level as the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Bahrain's Tarek Mubarak Salem Taher on his way to winning the men's 3000m steeplechase final on Tuesday. [Photo/China Daily]

"The venues and the facilities are all tremendous, and everything in the Athletes' Village is magnificent - up to world standards," said Shaikh Talal. "I think they have done a very good job.

"I was fortunate enough to be at the Olympic Games in Beijing and I see it the same here in every way.

"I would like to congratulate the organizers of the Guangzhou Asian Games for the tremendous organization of this championship. The opening ceremony was magnificent and, up until now, all the facilities and the organization of the championship have run very well.

"Bahrain is competing with a big delegation and the feedback from the athletes and officials is that everything is first class. They are all extremely happy and enjoying it, so it provides the spirit of sportsmanship.

"A lot of our athletes have performed well. We won two medals - a gold and a bronze - on the opening day of athletics, so we look forward to another week of success."

Shaikh Talal said Bahrain was hoping to attract more world-class sports events and could apply to host the Asian Games in the near future.

"We started off six years back with organizing the first Middle East Formula One event and we are always looking for quality championships to host," he said.

"We in the Bahrain Athletics Association are fortunate to have organized an Asian Athletics Cross-country Championship and also the World Military Cross-country Championship and we look forward to having more championships in the Asian field in the future."

When asked if Bahrain could host the Asian Games, Shaikh Talal said: "In the future, yes. We have some excellent facilities coming up in the next few years and I think we will be able to submit an application to host either an Asian Games or maybe a smaller type of championship, but yes, why not?"

(China Daily 11/24/2010 page35)