Dubai: The American shooters continued their dominance on the top of the leaderboard at the end of the second day of the Nad Al Sheba Sporting Clays Championship on Monday.
Gebben Miles, who was in 17th place at the end of the first day with a total of 39, came up with a handy 45 following visits of 24 and 21 on the second day to assume sole leadership with a cumulative 84. One shot adrift was teammate Anthony Matarese after shooting 43 on Monday to add up to the 40 he had on Day One.
South Africa’s Timothy Hubner was third, also with an 83 after two days of shooting followed by Sean Bramley of Great Britain in fourth and Spaniard Diego Eguizabal Martinez in fifth followed by multiple world champion George Digweed in sixth with an 80.
Overnight leader Andrew Duffy slipped down to seventh after his fourth visit ended with a low score of 15 to go along with his third visit of 20.
“Today, it was much less of the wind and sand and I am happy with my score. From tomorrow, we will enter the business end of the competition and things will get even more clear as the day progresses, and I think I can fancy my chances of being in the top six for Wednesday’s final,” Miles told Gulf News.
Elusive success
Success has been elusive for the young American shooter, who is considered to be among the handful of future prospects for international glory. In the recent past, Miles has altered his thinking about the sport, and about life in general.
“The main thing is to focus on the moment, and not think too much about what it can be or may be in the future. I know I have put in a lot of hard work in the past and that will start showing when the time comes,” Miles said. “Almost every moment counts in shooting and in life. I have learnt how to focus on the process,” he added.
In the women’s category, overnight leader Beatriz Laparra Cuenca continued her stay at the top with a score of 77 followed by Great Britain’s Janine Preece (65) and American Diane Sorantino (64), Great Britain’s Cheryl Hall, Desirae Edmunds from the US and Sweden’s Rebecka Bergqvist.
The run for the honours in the Middle East category witnessed a minor change with Fahad Al Dhehani of Kuwait overtaking the UAE’s Obaid Bin Dawi at the top. The Kuwaiti champion, a regular to the UAE, is with a score of 71 followed by Bin Dawi with 68. Kuwaiti’s Abdullah Al Rashidi is in third with 66 followed by the UAE’s Olympian in London, Dhaher Al Aryani with 64.
Action will continue with each shooter getting two more rounds on Tuesday followed by the final two rounds on Wednesday before the top six are chosen for the finals that will be held later in the evening on Wednesday.
