Nasser and Noora claim gold medals

Winners of the men’s trap event of the Qatar Shooting and Archery Association Cup celebrate on the podium at the Losail Shooting Complex yesterday.  Right: Winners of the women’s trap event during the podium ceremony.By Sports Reporter/DohaNasser al-Humaidi and Noora al-Ali won the men’s and women’s trap gold medals, respectively in the Qatar Shooting and Archery Association Cup at the Losail Shooting Complex yesterday.Al-Humaidi defeated Saeed Hamad Abu Sharib 11-10 in the thrilling final. The bronze medal match was also quite close as Rashid Saleh al-Athba got the better of Mohammed Dablan 9-8. Humaidi won the semi-final with 14 hits, while Sharib defeated Rashid Saleh in the shoot-off for a place in the final. Rashid had the highest score (109) in the qualification round. Junior shooter Angelo Scalzone also shot 109 and was declared the junior men’s trap champion. Abdullah Meshaab (105) and Hamad Abdullah al-Thani (98) bagged the silver and bronze medals, respectively. Noora al-Ali, who was battling illness and equipment challenges, shrugged off all the odds and won the women’s gold with a 10-9 win over Amna al-Abdulla in the final. Noora had been laid low by some health issues and then her Perazzi gun compounded her miseries. Noora sounded thrilled with her victory. “I’m really delighted to come back and win the title. I was having some health problems. And then I was not comfortable with my gun also. “I trained hard to catch up with others. I changed the stock of my gun Perazzi. Thank God, everything went well today. It was quite hard for me but now I’m feeling very satisfied after beating some tough rivals.”Noora will now focus on raising her efforts so that she could win a quota place for Qatar in the upcoming Rio Olympics qualifiers, which are scheduled in New Delhi from January 24 to February 4. “I’ll train harder for the New Delhi competition. We will try to win a Olympic place for Qatar in New Delhi,” Noora said. Roudah al-Qahtani emerged the junior women’s champion, as she shot 50 targets. Badria al-Binali defeated Noora al-Mohannadi to win silver. QSAA Board Member Fatima al-Jassiman gave away the medals.RESULTSMen’s Trap For gold medalNasser al-Humaidi beat Saeed Hamad Abu Sharib 11-10For bronze medalRashid Saleh al Athba beat Mohammed Dablan 9-8Semi-finals and qualificationNasser al-Humaidi 14 & 107Saeed Hamad Abu Sharib 10+2 & 107 Rashid Saleh al-Athba 10+1 & 109Mohamed Dablan 9 & 106Masoud Ali al-Athba 8 & 106Jr Men’s Trap1. Angelo Scalzone 1092. Abdullah Meshaab 1053. Hamad Abdullah al-Thani 98Women’s TrapFor gold medalNoora al-Ali beat Amna al-Abdulla 10-9 For bronze medalMeitha al-Binali beat Bana Haji 13-6Semi-finals and qualificationNoora al-Ali 11 & 63 Amna al-Abdulla 11 & 59Meitha al-Binali 8 & 55Bana Haji 10 & 65Nawal al-Khalaf 7 & 56 Kholoud al-Khalaf 6 & 62Jr Women’s Trap1. Roudah al-Qahtani 502. Badria al-Binali 383. Noora al-Mohannadi 34