Two-time Asian Games champion Masoud Saleh Hamad continued his winning run as he claimed the Skeet gold at the Qatar Shooting and Archery Cup on Saturday.
At the Losail Shooting Range, the 47-year-old shooter finished on top in the 10-men final round to win his third medal in the last three months. Earlier, he had won a gold and silver in the Amir Cup in November.
Six-time Olympian Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah, bronze medal winner at the 2012 London Games, finished in the second position after winning a shootout with Ali Ahmed al-Ishaq. Rashid Saleh Hamad, a two-time Olympian and the winner’s brother, finished fourth.
Rashid is keen to do well in the season to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Rashid, who won one gold and a silver in the Amir Cup held in November, was in the best of form in the preliminary stage but failed to translate that into a win in the final round. In the five preliminary rounds, Rashid registered two perfect scores of 25 each and missed one targetin the other three.
First-placed Reem al-Sharshani (centre back), second-placed Hajar Mohamed (left back) and third-placed Amal al-Rafeea pose on the women’s skeet podium of the Qatar Shooting and Archery Cup at the Losail Shooting Range.
Rashid was happy with his form ahead of the international season. “I had a good score in the preliminary round and topped the charts, but in the final round I missed a few targets. You shoot very well in the preliminary stage and then miss out in the final. It happens many times,” said Rashid, who represented Qatar in the Beijing 2008 Games and the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Reem al-Sharshani won gold in the women’s skeet section. Hajar Mohamed and Amal al-Rafeea finished second and third respectively. Aisha Ahmed al-Ansari came first, and Fatma Nasser Bumedaish and Fatma Ali al-Shiravi finished second and third respectively in the women’s junior event.
