Sports Reporter/Doha
Teenager Mohamed al-Kuwari put up a sensational performance to beat a strong field of 21 shooters to clinch the men’s skeet title in the HH The Emir Cup Championships at the Qatar Shooting and Archery Association range in Losail yesterday.
Al-Kuwari defeated Masoud Hamad with a score of 14-11 in the gold medal match after finishing at the top in the semi-finals, comprising six shooters. The new rules meant that the scores accumulated by al-Kuwari during the qualifying round and the semis would not be carried into the finals. As a result, both, al-Kuwari and Hamad were on even ground in the fight for the title. The former kept up the good work and held his nerve to hit 14 off the clay discs with precision, while the latter managed just 11 hits to settle for the second spot.
“I’m extremely pleased with my showing. With the new rule, I knew I had a good chance and I concentrated on controlled shooting. Now, I have set my sights on the World Cup. This result is a great boost,” said an elated al-Kuwari, who has been training for the last five years.
The third place was bagged by Asian junior shooting champion Ali Ahmed al-Ishaq, who edged out Saeed Abusharib by a mere one point. Abusharib finished the qualifying round with an impressive score of 124 but would be utterly disappointed with the way he lost out in the semis comprising the top six shooters.
In women’s action, Qatar’s Deena al-Tubaishi grabbed the skeet title beating 2000 Sydney Olympics gold and 2004 Athens Olympics bronze medallist Azerbaijan’s Zemfira Meftakhetdinova. Al-Tubaishi won 11-8 in the finals.
Meftakhetdinova finished the qualifying round by hitting 67 out of the 75 targets, while al-Tubaishi was second with a score of 63. In the semis, too, she emerged as the best shooter by accumulating a score of 12, one more than al-Tubaishi. However, Meftakhetdinova faltered when it mattered most. In the finals, a series of errors saw her shoot down just eight discs and she had to be content with the second spot. In the bronze medal match, Qatar’s Sarah Ghoulam comprehensively got the better off Azerbaijan’s Regina Meftakhetdinova with a score of 7-2.
“Meftakhetdinova has so much experience and to win the top honours beating her was really pleasing. I used the change in format to my advantage and I’m happy about it. I will try and win a medal at the World Cup to be held in Al-Ain in April,” said a beaming al-Tubaishi after the medals ceremony.
The skeet women’s junior title was bagged by Hajar Ghoulam, who defeated Amina al-Badr in a shoot off.
Fuad Gurbanov of Azerbaijan won the skeet junior title also after a shoot-off with Qatar’s Khalid al-Mansouri. Gurbanov won over al-Mansouri by a mere one point after both finished the qualifying round tied at 112. The third place was clinched by Qatar’s Abdullah al-Thani.
The women’s 50m Rifle 3 position final was won by Bahiya M al-Hamad with a total score of 442.9. Aysha Ibrahm al-Mutawa claimed silver with a score of 434.2, while Fahad Matara al-Assieri claimed bronze with 420.9.
Oleg Engachev won the men’s 50m Rifle Prone final with a total of 182. Abdullah Shaker al-Burti, who accumulated a score of 174.6, bagged silver while the bronze went to Konstantin Maltsev with a total of 157.5
