Four years ago, Hamad al-Marri was a key member of Qatar’s double trap gold-winning troika at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon.
The Games were five days old then and the Qatari contingent had done precious little upto that point, except firing blanks and making up the numbers.
Confidence had nosedived and despair had begun to set in. A couple of unsavoury headlines in the international media also didn’t help the contingent’s cause.
A turnaround in fortunes was badly needed and, as they say, cometh the hour cometh the man, or men, in this case, as al-Marri, Rashid al-Athba and Masoud al-Athba came up with a stellar performance to shock hot favourites China for gold in the double trap team competition.
That was the shot in the arm that Qatar needed and the rest is history. When the Games ended, Qatar were 10th on the medals table with 10 gold medals, their best-ever show at the continental event.
Qatar are hoping that al-Marri once again proves a harbinger of glory for the team after the stocky shooter lifted the country’s mood yesterday by winning the individual double trap bronze in Palembang, Indonesia’s second-biggest city, which is sharing the 18th Asian Games with Jakarta.
Al-Marri, 43, shot 53 in the final to finish third, while South Korea’s Shin Hyun-woo won the gold with a score of 74. India’s Shardul Vihan, a 15-year-old prodigy, bagged the silver with 73.
Al-Marri had been in brilliant form in qualifying, finishing second with a score of 139 behind Vihan’s 141, while Shin had managed only 138. But the tables were turned in the final which saw Shin blaze away to the title, making amends for his fifth place finish at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.
The double trap is a shotgun event where the shooter has to hit two flat clay discs that are released simultaneously at a high speed. It gives the competitor only fractions of a second to hit the second target after having had a go at the first from a distance of about 16 yards, thus calling for high levels of concentration and tremendous capacity to shut out the outside world.
Understandably, al-Marri was pleased with his effort.
“It’s a great feeling to win a medal at the Asian Games. It’s hard to describe how happy I am. I am glad my dedication and hard work paid off,” al-Marri said after his victory.
“I would like to thank the Qatar Olympic Committee for taking great care of us. We have not been inconvenienced in any way. I hope my bronze medal inspires the team to achieve more glory in Indonesia.”
Meanwhile, Vihan became the third teenaged shooter to win a medal for India in Indonesia after Saurabh Chaudhary (10m air pistol gold) and Lakshay Sheoran (silver in trap).
Gold medallist Shin also became the first South Korean to win a gold in the double trap competition at the Asian Games. 
Before Shin’s effort yesterday, South Korea had only one bronze medal in the double trap event, which came at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan. Shin had also won a team bronze in Incheon.
With three more days of shooting competitions lined up, Qatar can expect to increase their medal tally. Ace rally driver and London Olympics bronze medallist Nasser al-Attiyah is among the contenders in individual skeet.
Al-Attiyah has never won an individual gold at the Asian Games, although he has a team gold and an individual silver and bronze. He is participating in the Asian Games for the seventh time, having made his debut in Hiroshima in 1994.