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Qatar’s Saleh Masoud Hamad al-Athba clinched two medals, both silver, in individual and team events in the Skeet competition of the 11th Arab Shooting Championships yesterday. |
At the Losail Shooting Range, the 39-year-old al-Athba lost the gold medal shoot out to Kuwait’s Zaid al-Mutairi. Another Kuwaiti Abdullah al-Rashidi came third.
Al-Mutairi went on to complete a double as Kuwait won the gold in the Skeet team event. Hosts Qatar took the silver. Saudi Arabia bagged the bronze medal.
Qatar’s veteran shooter al-Athba, a double gold medallist at the 2002 Busan Asian Games, was delighted with the two medals he won in Skeet.
“For the last two months I have been practicing with this new gun and changing to a new gun seems to be a wise decision,” the silver medallist said.
The shooter who drew a blank in the last Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, said the competition was tough.
“It was tough. We have several Asian, Olympic and World champions taking part here. So winning a silver was worth it in such a tough competition,” al-Athba said, who lost the final 15-11 to the Kuwaiti.
“In Asian Games I had the old gun with me and I took the decision to change to a new gun after the results in Incheon as I failed to get a medal,” said al-Athba, who also won a silver medal at the Asian Games in 2010.
Al-Athba later teamed up to clinch the silver for Qatar.
“I am happy for the young shooters who are coming through the ranks,” he said.
Around 250 shooters from the Arab world are taking part in the championship. Apart from host Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Lebanon and Sudan are taking part in the nine-day event which will conclude on November 19.
