Dubai: Solomon Thomas of India, Abdul Aziz Al Rodhan of Saudi Arabia and Shabbir Ahmad of Pakistan landed gold medals at the end of the archery competition at the Fourth Nad Al Sheba (NAS) Sports Tournament late on Tuesday.
Thomas defeated Nada Mamdouh of Egypt in the Recurve Open final, Al Rodhan outshot Lebanon’s Wissam Torbay in the Compound Open, while Ahmad turned last year’s bronze into gold this time with an easy 6-0 win against Saeed Al Muhairi of the UAE in the Disabled Recurve category.
“This is an unbelievable feeling for me to be standing here with a gold medal around my neck,” Thomas told Gulf News after receiving his prize from Hassan Al Mazroei, Tournament Director, NAS 2016.
“I’ve been in this country for a little over a year now and this event is only my fourth archery tournament. It’s a lovely feeling to win against such strong and multinational competition,” added the archery coach from the Sharjah Golf and Shooting Club.
Before arriving in the UAE, the 25-year-old native of Trichur, Kerala, was a regular at national level archery competitions in India. His inspiration was elder brother Stephen Thomas, who too was a national level archer.
Thomas’s first job was as an accountant with a Sharjah real estate company before he was drafted as the archery coach at the Sharjah Golf and Shooting Club in March. “At first, I did not have any equipment to shoot. But archery coach Ali Rao helped me out by arranging training facilities for me at the Dubai Archers. And today is the highlight of the competitions I have taken part here so far,” he added.
Pakistan’s Shabbir Ahmad was thrilled at achieving his goal of bagging gold after ending with the bronze last year. “I have worked hard for this moment. I trained for three hours every day as I wanted to prove to myself that I can achieve my goal,” Ahmad said.
“But this is not the end for me. This is just the beginning. I want to continue with my hard work and go on to compete in an Olympic Games. Though I am a Pakistani, I would be more than glad to represent the UAE as this is the country where I was born and this is where I have been given the opportunity to prove my talent,” he added.
Meanwhile, MRMR-2 and Fohood Zabeel booked their places in the final of the volleyball competition with easy wins before a packed stadium. MRMR-2 got the better of Zabeel 3-1 (22-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-19), while Fohood Zabeel blanked Surprise 3-0 (25-13, 25-23, 25-21).
The UAE nationals padel competition got under way with Shaikh Saeed Bin Hasher Al Maktoum teaming up with his long-time friend Omar Sharif Al Marzouqi to sweep their way past Ahmad Obaid Al Subiusi and Mana Al Ahbabi 6-1, 6-1, while Abdullah Al Ameri and Saeed Al Jabri were given a walkover against Eisa Al Marzouqi and Ahmad Al Ketbi.
RESULTS
(Archery) Recurve cadets u-17 boys: Mohammad Ateeq, Ahmad Hamad, Saud Rashid. Recurve cadets u-17 girls: Noora Haroon, Maitha Abdullah, Ghalia Bader. Recurve Disabled Open: Shabbir Ahmad, Saeed Al Muhairi, Reza Jalal Bahri. Compound Open: Abdul Aziz Al Rodhan, Wissam Torbay, Maral Chreiki. Recurve Open: Solomon Thomas, Nada Mamdouh, Pedro Santos.
(Volleyball semi-finals) MRMR-2 bt Zabeel 3-1 (22-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-19); Fohood Zabeel bt Surprise 3-0 (25-13, 25-23, 25-21).
(Padel) Men’s Open: Guillermo Villafane/Benjamin Cassaigne bt Juan Reyna/Jon Garabieta 6-0, 6-0; German Zunica/Javier Molina bt Hassan Sharif Al Marzouqi/Saeed Al Marri 6-3, 6-2. UAE Nationals: Shaikh Saeed Bin Hasher Al Maktoum/Omar Sharif Al Marzouqi bt Ahmad Obaid Al Subiusi/Mana Al Ahbabi 6-1, 6-1; Abdullah Al Ameri/Saeed Al Jabri bt Eisa Al Marzouqi/Ahmad Al Ketbi (walkover).
