Incheon: Former two-time Asian gold medallist Fahd Al Dehani of Kuwait has been denied two certain gold medals at the ongoing 2014 Incheon Asian Games — strangely by a dragonfly.
Last Sunday, Al Dehani led throughout the qualifying rounds to enter the final in the men’s trap. But in the gold medal match final against Gao Bo, he registered 12 targets from a total of 15, while his Chinese opponent held his nerve for a perfect score to take the gold.
On Thursday, a similar drama unfolded as Al Dehani – who set the Asian Games record at the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games – battled for gold against another Chinese opponent Hu Binyuan in the men’s double trap final at the Gyeonggido Shooting Range.
The Chinese shooter missed his first two targets handing a clear advantage to Al Dehani in the 30-target shoot-off. But once again the Kuwaiti missed towards the end allowing a certain gold medal slip out of his grasp for a second time in four days.
Asked to explain if it was something mental when he came up against shooters from China, Al Dehani said: “It’s nothing but bad luck. As I readied to shoot a dragonfly came and sat on the barrel. That was enough to distract my attention and I missed. Can you believe it the same thing happened in the men’s trap on Sunday?”.
“I have watched the video twice already and one can clearly see the dragonfly come and sit on my gun just when I called for the shot. It was too late and I had to take the shot. I took it and missed. This has happened in both the finals. I suppose one needs that extra element of luck to win,” he added.
