Gold medallist convinced by UAE coach to compete

Al Ain: London 2012 gold medallist Peter Wilson scored a perfect 30 in the final of the double trap competition to beat Chinese Hao Wang and win gold at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup event here — thanks largely to Shaikh Ahmad Bin Hasher Al Maktoum.

British shooter Wilson confessed he was thinking of not taking part in the competition at the Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club, but his coach, Shaikh Ahmad — the gold medallist in the event in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games — convinced him to compete.

“I wasn’t expecting much. The plan wasn’t to shoot. I had not been training for the last seven months, after the Games. I did a bit of shooting but not double trap,” Wilson said.

“Shaikh Ahmad suggested that I compete here and I was convinced. I spent the last two weeks shooting with him and he said I was ready.

“I met Shaikh Ahmad in Beijing in 2009. At that time I had lost government support for my shooting, but I had an opportunity to talk with him. I respected him as the best double trap shooter ever and he agreed to support and coaching me. The goal was to win the 2012 Olympic Games and it worked well.”

Italian Davide Gasparini won bronze here after beating his compatriot, Daniele Di Spigno, 27-26, while American Eller Walton, who broke the world record in the preliminary round of the qualification, failed to reach the last two matches and finished fifth, followed by German Andreas Loew.

On Sunday the participants in both the men’s and women’s skeet competitions took part in the official practice session ahead of the two days of competition on Monday and Tuesday.

Among those competing will be young Briton Amber Hill, who won gold in last month’s event in Acapulco, Mexico, after beating Italian Diana Bacosi, who will be out to avenge that loss here.

Slovakian ace Danka Bartekova, the gold medallist of the event in Maribor, Slovenia, last year and the silver medallist of the 2011 version held in Al Ain, will be among the favourites along with Brandy Drozd of the USA and Korean Kim Min-ji.

The women’s qualifications will be held on Monday morning and the final will be in the evening.

The men will start their qualification on Monday and finish on Tuesday, before the best six move on to the semi-finals and eventually the medal matches.

Shaikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Al Maktoum leads the UAE team, which also features Saif Bin Futtais, who won bronze in Acapulco, Mohammad Hassan, Abdullah Bin Dhahi and Saeed Al Dhareef.