YOUTH OLYMPICS BRONZE FOR JORDAN

 Jordan have launched their campaign at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires with a medal for rising Taekwondo star Zaid Mustafa.

After receiving a bye into the quarter-finals, the 17-year-old charged past Spain’s Hugo Arillo 25-5 to guarantee a medal for Jordan on their first day of competition.

His semi-final match was against the impressive Korean, Kangmin Kim, who showed his class to win 31-16 and reach the final. For Mustafa, he settled for a bronze medal and showed glimpses of why he is rated as one of Jordan’s brightest prospects.

He becomes only the third Jordanian to win a Youth Olympic medal.

“I am obviously disappointed to have lost in the semi-final but taking the bronze medal means a lot to me,” said Mustafa.

“I will be cheering on my teammates now to hopefully help them also reach the podium.”

Rama Abu Al Rub is up next for Jordan in Taekwondo on Tuesday when she meets the winner of Morocco’s Safia Saleh and Gabon’s Marandi Mervellie in the women’s -55kg quarter-final.

Her teammate, Natalie Al Humaidi, will launch her campaign on Wednesday against Ireland’s Yalda Valinejad in the -63kg category.

Meanwhile, the 3x3 Basketball team will start their competition against Turkmenistan on Tuesday, before taking on Georgia in their second group game. Swimmer Mohammad Al Bedour will also launch his campaign in the pool, competing in the 50m Freestyle heats.