Wrestler Karam Gaber took a silver at the Games in London, raising Egypt's overall medal haul to two, Inas Mazhar reports On Monday millions of Egyptians glued themselves for three minutes to the tube to watch golden boy Karam Gaber as he played for the gold medal. Gaber had to settle for the silver medal in the 84kg weight category after losing to Russian Alan Khugaev 3-0. Gaber lost the first round 1-0 and the third 2-0. En route to the final, Gaber knocked down the world's top ranked players. He started by beating France's Melonon Noumonvi 3-1, then Croatia's Nenad Zuggi in the quarter-finals also 3-1, then defeated Poland's Damian Janikowski in the semis 3-1 before losing to the Russian Khugaev in the final. In Athens 2004, Gaber became the first Egyptian athlete to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games in 56 years. Gaber's silver medal in London was the second for Egypt at the Games after the silver medal won by Alaaeddin Abu El-Kassem earlier in fencing. Mohamed Abdel-Fattah, or Bogi, failed in Egypt's quest for a second medal in the Greco (96kg) on Tuesday. The former world champion lost in the preliminary qualifications against Belarus Tsinafei Dzeinichenika 3-1 and as such, could not reach the roung of 16. In Greco, Islam Tolba paid for an early bye in the 74kg weight category by losing in the first round to his Croatian opponent. In the 55kg category, Abu Halima Mohamed El-Said lost the first round to American Thomas Spencer. In athletics, runner Hamada Ahmed qualified for the semi-finals of the 800 metres when he finished first in his group clocking 1.48.05 minutes ahead of competitors from Japan, England, Spain, Iran, Algeria, Mali and Nicaragua. Weightlifter Nahla Ramadan continued her Olympic failure for the third time in a row. Ramadan finished fifth in the 75kg weight category. According to reports, Ramadan took part in the competition suffering from a thigh injury. The weightlifting team apparently travelled to the Games without their own physician. Teammate Abeer Abdel-Rahman also placed fifth and failed to win a bronze medal in the 70kg category. In her last attempt to lift 151kg to claim a bronze medal, the weights were too heavy taking Abdel-Rahman down with the weights over her. The Egyptian champion was carried out on a wheelchair but was reportedly in good condition. Tarek Abdel-Azim ended in fourth place in the 85kg weight category. He had hoped for a bronze medal but failed to lift 216. Ragab Abdel-Hai placed sixth in the 85kg weight category. Ibrahim Ramadan was fifth at the 77kg. In the equestrian, Egypt's only participant Karim El-Zoghby managed to make it to the second qualifying round of the individual event. In the first round, he clocked 82 seconds but hit a hurdle thus losing four points. El-Zoghby also bid farewell to the jump competition, committing 10 faults. Duet Shaza Abdel-Rahman and Dalia El-Gebali finished at the bottom of the synchronised swimming duet competition. They scored 75.700 points for 24th place. Boxing also failed in making any impression at the Games. Athletes have opened fire at the Egyptian Olympic Committee, complaining of a lack of funding and preparation and that whatever they accomplished in the Games was their own effort.
