Qatari women shooters bagged gold in the women’s 10m Air Rifle Team event to swell the hosts’ golds tally to nine at the Arab Games Doha 2011 yesterday. Qatari women’s team comprising Bahya Mansoor al-Hamad, Shaikha Khalaf al-Mohammed and Mahbubeh Akhlaghi put up a grand total of 1,176 points to get the better of silver medalists Egypt (1,169 pts) and bronze winners Kuwait (1,163 pts).
Qatari women also went on to shoot silver and bronze in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle event. Bahya Mansoor al-Hamad missed the gold by one point to Kuwait’s Maryam Arzouqi, who accumulated 498 points.
Qatar’s Mahbubeh Akhlaghi was another two and a half points behind her compatriot al-Hamad but it was enough to give her the bronze.
“I was very afraid because the competition I faced was really hard. The scoring was very tight. During my last two shots (she scored 10.5 and 10.4) I was really afraid. At the end I just counted on God and even if I had come first or second it was going to be OK for me,” said a beaming Arzouqi after the absorbing final.
Third placed Akhlaghi too was relieved to finish on the podium. “The competition was really not easy, only few points separated me from the silver, but I still expected to be among the medals as I had been training well. I’m really happy with the result,” said a visibly pleased Akhlaghi.
Another silver for Qatar also came in the 10m Air Pistol team event when their team trio Souad Waleed (369 pts), Nasra Mohamed Mahmoud (361 pts) and Dana Saad
Al-Mubarak (352 pts) managed a grand total of 1,082pts from each of their four rounds. The gold in this event went to Egypt with 1,094 points, while the bronze was claimed by the team from UAE.
However, the biggest upset of the day for the hosts came in the men’s bowling. Tarek Helmy was in a class of his own and a series of +200 scores helped Egypt shock Qatar for gold in the singles’ event at the Qatar Bowling Centre.
Helmy’s compatriot Karim Sherif went on to win silver. It has to be recalled that Qatar had made a clean sweep in the 2007 Arab Games, winning all four bowling golds.
Mansour al-Hajri, however, saved the day for hosts by winning bronze. He was ranked 17th after two games, but recovered well after the first four games.
“We were not looking at the scores but rather staying focused on the rest of the competition. We made a slow start, but were sure that the event was too long to predict a winner,” said Sherif, who had also won silver four years back at his home soil.
It would be interesting to see how the Egyptian pair of Helmy and Sherif go about their business in the doubles event today. “I am all set to put my experience to the benefit of the whole team. My country’s hopes are bigger than one single gold medal in the Games,” said a jubilant Helmy.
Sherif too was confident of jelling well with his partner Helmy in the doubles event.
“It appears that we will make a wonderful pair. We play as a team and this is our strength,” felt Sherif.
Qatar’s Mubarak al-Muraikhi, who was the part of the team that won gold four years back, too is well aware that he has his task cutout this time round. “Competition will be very difficult and all teams seem to have equal chances. There is no room for error,” says al-Muraikhi.
In the men’s basketball second round encounter, Qatar defeated Kuwait 70-63.
