At the Losail Shooting Complex, former Asian Games champion Masoud Saleh Hamad of Qatar won the men’s individual skeet gold as Qatar also won the men’s and women’s skeet team titles.
Qatar’s woman shooter Reem al-Sharshani finished second behind Kuwait’s Eman al-Shamaa in the individual skeet event. Sarah Mohamed came third.
Masoud, who was taking part in skeet after a gap of two years, defeated World Cup bronze medallist Saud Habib of Kuwait (54-53) in the final.
“I’m very happy with this victory. I just returned to the range after two years. I was away from it due to my work commitments. But I started training again and contested in the Asian championship in Kuwait, which was my first event,” Masoud said.
“The Arab championship is my second competition. Big names like al-Rashidi, al-Attiyah, Habib and Rashid Saleh were all competing and I’m really thrilled to have won this high-quality event. I’m quite confident now and will work hard towards getting a place in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Masoud survived a three-way shoot-off to make it to the top six after being tied with Habib and Abdulaziz al-Attiyah, younger brother of Rio Olympics bronze medallist Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah, at 116 each. From there he continued his surge. When the last 10 shots were left to decide the champion, he was one target ahead of Habib.
Masoud maintained pressure on the 2016 Asian championship silver winner from Kuwaiti and led 51-49 after six more hits. Habib struck all the last four to get to 53. There was a bit of drama when Hamad failed once in his first two shots. But he controlled himself admirably and fired both the final targets to emerge as the champion.
Rashid Saleh Hamad was pleased with the team’s gold and his individual bronze medal. “It was a tough competition. The strong winds made it even tougher. But I managed to get two medals. I have lots of local and international competitions lined up and I will be putting in my best to ensure my entry into the third Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020.”
In the women’s section, al-Shamaa, the 2016 Asian championship bronze medal winner from Kuwait, and Sarah Mohamed, the overnight leader, were on the top after the qualifying series with 109 each. They then were involved in a shoot-off to decide the number one qualifier, an honour which eventually went to the Kuwaiti.
Al-Shamaa kept her consistency in the finals and won her second skeet title with a 48-43 victory of al-Sharshani.
RESULTS
Men’s skeet (individual)
1. Masoud Saleh Hamad (Qatar) 116+1 & 54 (finals)
2. Saud Habib (Kuwait) 116+2 & 53
3. Rashid Saleh Hamad (Qatar) 118+2 & 42
Men’s skeet (team)
1. Qatar 350 (Nasser al-Attiyah 119, Rashid Saleh Hamad 118, Saeed Abusharib 113)
2. Kuwait (Abdullah Alrashidi 118, Mansour Alrashidi 115, Abdulaziz Alsaad 113)
3. Oman (Mohamed al-Gharibi 113, Yasir al-Nasseri 113, Naghmush al-Hattali 110)
Women’s skeet (individual)
1. Eman Alshamaa (Kuwait) 109+2 & 48
2. Reem al-Sharshani (Qatar) 103 & 43
3. Sarah Mohamed (Qatar) 109+1 & 35
Women’s Skeet (team)
1. Qatar 318 (Sarah Mohamed 109, Hajar Mohameed 106, Reem al-Sharshani 103)
2. Kuwait 299 (Eman Alshamaa 109, Fatema Alzaabi 95, Shaikhah al-Rashidi 95)
3. Oman 222 (Fatma al-Sulaimi 87, Wahba al-Malki 75, Zahra al-Mahrouki 60)
