By Sports Reporter/Doha


Ali Rashid al-Muhannadi won the 50m Rifle Prone gold at Qatar Shooting and Archery Association Cup yesterday at the Losail Shooting Range.
Al-Muhannadi’s victory with a total score of 209 braced him to improve his national record, as Mohamed Sadd al-Mubarak and Dovgun Virtaliy managed to clinch silver and bronze, respectively.
“It was a difficult final. I did not expect that I was going set any record. But I managed to better the previous best, so I’m quite happy with my performance,” he said.
Talking about his next competition, al-Muhannadi said, “To be honest I am just enjoying shooting. I prepared very hard way before this event, but I wasn’t thinking about the result. I just wanted to shoot well today.
“I am not setting any target for me. We have Asian Shooting Championship in Kuwait which is a qualification tournament for Rio Olympics and I hope for a good performance there.”
In the junior section of the event, Fahad Jamal al-Muraqab, who collected 607.1 points, won the gold medal, while Abdullah Zain al-Sunaidi and Abulaziz Yasser al-Ali won silver and bronze medals.
Ahmed Zayed al-Shammari scored 545 to win the Junior 25m Standard Pistol title. He shot 27 points. Abdulaziz Faleh al-Enazi came second with 518. Mohammed Nasser al-Yafei netted 493 claim the bronze medal.
“Today, I was quite excited during the round and won the gold medal with a national record.
“I devoted long hours to my training and I think I have improved just because of my hard work,” al-Shammari, whose previous best was 529, said.
Since the shotgun shooters are away in Italy for a nine-day camp the championship is being held in rifle and pistol classes only.
Asian Games 25m Centre fire Pistol gold medallist veteran shooter Oleg Engachev hit 562 to win the 25m Standard Pistol crown. The silver medal went to Konstantin Maltsev who finished with 560 points. Ivan Bidniak won the bronze with a total tally of 557.

RESULTS
Men’s 50m Rifle Prone
1. Ali Rashid al-Muhannadi 625.8 & 209; 2. Mohammed Saad al-Mubarak 613.5 & 206.2; 3. Vitaliy Dovgun 622.8 & 185.4
Jr Men’s 50m Rifle Prone
1. Fahad Jamal al-Muraqab 607.1; 2. Abdullah Zain Alsunaidi 602.6; 3. Abdulaziz Yasser al-Ali 602.3
Men’s 25m Standard Pistol
1. Oleg Engachev 562 (13x); 2. Konstantin Maltsev 560 (15x); 3. Ivan Bidniak 557 (12x)
Jr Men’s 25m Standard Pistol
1. Ahmed Zayed al-Shammari 545 (8x); 2. Abdulaziz Faleh al-Enazi 518 (5x); 3. Mohammed Nasser al-Yafei 493 (4x)