Dubai: A crack team of shooters led by multi-world and European clay shooting champion George Digweed has arrived for the inaugural Nad Al Sheba Shooting Championship to be held from February 28 to March 5 in Dubai.
Accompanied by fellow British shooters Olympic double-trap champion Richard Faulds and Stuart Clarke, Digweed landed in Dubai on Wednesday and proceeded to a shooting range for a practice session.
Born in Hastings, Sussex, Digweed started shooting when he was just 12 years old after his grandfather handed him a .410 shotgun. His competitive attitude saw him taking to the sport and his first memorable competition win came at the Home International Skeet Championships in 1986. Since then, he has scaled the heights of his sport with one of his career highlights coming at the 2011 World Championship as he became the first man to shoot ‘100 straight’.
Held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council, the Nad Al Sheba Shooting Championship will see a full field of other international stars in action.
Official training sessions will be held on February 28 and March 1, while the actual competitions will get under way from March 2.
Meanwhile, the organising committee led by the UAE’s only Olympic champion Shaikh Ahmad Hasher Al Maktoum has finalised the cash allocation for winners in various categories.
The winner in the men’s competition will get $140,000 (Dh514,111), while the runner-up and third-placed shooters will receive $65,000 and $40,000 respectively.
In the women’s category, the winner will receive $35,000, while the second-place competitor will get $20,000 followed by $15,000 for the third place finisher.
Shaikh Hamdan has also instructed a separate allocation of $135,000 as a prize incentive for shooters from the Middle East.
The increase in prize money takes the total cash fund for the championship to $735,000.
In addition to the winners in the various categories, there will be daily raffle draws during the course of the competition that will see three cars given away besides electronic appliances and household items.
