Nawzad wins Iraq’s 1st medal in China’s XVI Asiad

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraq won its first medal in the 2010 Asian Games, now taking place in China’s Guangzhou city, by the Iraqi rower Haider Nawzad, according to the head of the Iraqi Rowing Federation on Friday. “Nawzad won a bronze in the 2,000-meter singles’ rowing event, bringing Iraq the first medal in the current 2010 Asian Games, while the first medal in the Games was won by an Indian player and the second by a player from Taipei,” Abdulsalam Khalaf told IraqiNews.com news agency. Iraq is taking part in XVI Asiad, now taking place in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, with 11 continental games, including the karate, rowing, swimming, judo, track & field events, gymnastics, boxing, Chess and billiards. The 2010 Asian Games, also known as the XVI Asiad, is a multi-sport event in Guangzhou, China that began on 12 November and finishes on 27 November 2010. Guangzhou is the second Chinese city to host the Games, after Beijing in 1990. A total of 476 events in 42 sports are contested by athletes, making it the largest event in the history of the Games. It is also the last iteration of the Games to have featured such big events, as the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) have enforced new hosting rules for future games, beginning with the 2014 Games. Guangzhou was awarded the right to host the Games on July 1, 2004, as the sole bidding city. This came after the withdrawal of several cities: Amman, Kuala Lumpur and Seoul. The games will also be co-hosted by Dongguan, Foshan and Shanwei, the three neighboring cities. SKH (S)/AmR 71