A top shooting official has expressed his delight in seeing shooters from the UAE making their mark on the international stage.
"The UAE youth have made their mark in the shooting field and, hopefully, this will affect a whole new generation," stated Medhat Wahdan, President of the ISSF.
Wahdan arrived in Dubai earlier this week to oversee the organisation for Dubai Calibre 2005 the ISSF World Cup Shotgun Final being organised under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
The competition has attracted some of the world's best shooters in the skeet, trap and double trap disciplines. The competition will be held at the Jebel Ali Shooting Club from November 19-25.
Wahdan was pleased to host an international shooting competition in a place like Dubai due to the reputation that the UAE enjoys in the world.
"This reputation makes it the right place to host an international sporting event like the ISSF World Cup Shotgun Final," Wahdan remarked.
And one of the main people influencing the course of shooting here is Olympic gold medallist Shaikh Ahmad Mohammad Hasher Al Maktoum and Shaikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Al Maktoum, the gold medal winner at the Asian Championship in skeet.
Wahdan affirmed that the sport of shooting is part of the Arab tradition.
"Hence we should not be surprised to have some worldclass shooters coming out of this region," Wahdan observed. "This sport also inspires a lot of other youngsters to hone their shooting skills and to use it for peaceful purposes," he added. Wahdan appealed to the regional countries to support all up-coming shooting clubs.
"Even though we have a few good shooters who achieved remarkable results the clubs need more support as the sport requires large areas of open land as well to take the sport to international standards," he said.
Wahdan conducted the pre-event training involving the UAE youth which he feels will go a long way in building up the confidence of the participants in facing the championship in the future. Meanwhile, Wahdan was satisfied with the final arrangements being made at the Jebel Ali Shooting Club range.
