Star-studded field for UAE shooting event

Al Ain: Two London 2012 Olympic Games gold medallists will be among the shooters competing in the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Shotgun event here later this month.

Many of the world’s best marksmen will be on show at the competition, which will be held at Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting and Golf Club from April 16 to 24. They are headlined by Croatia’s Giovanni Cernogoraz, who won gold in the men’s trap last summer, and Italian Jessica Rossi, winner of the women’s trap competition at the Royal Artillery Barracks.

Hosts the UAE will be represented by a 15-strong team including London 2012 competitors Shaikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Al Maktoum, Shaikh Juma Bin Dalmouk Al Maktoum and Daher Al Aryani, plus Saif Khalifa Bin Futtais, who won a bronze medal at the ISSF World Cup meeting in Acapulco, Mexico, last week.

The championships will see the participation of a total of 340 shooters from more than 51 countries, 10 of which are Arab nations.

The event has attracted the maximum number of shooters, which led the ISSF to close off registrations for the trap and skeet competitions. Registrations for double trap will be open until April 11.

Qatar’s Nasser Al Attiyah will take a break from his rally driving — he won the Dakar Rally in 2011 — to compete in the UAE. He won a bronze medal in the skeet at the Games last year.

Also in action will be Olympic silver medallist Zuzana Stefecekova of Slovakia, plus bronze medallists Kuwaiti Fehaid Al Deehani, Vasily Mosin of Russia, Delphine Reau of France, and Slovakia’s Danka Bartekova.

— With inputs from WAM