UAE shoot for first gold at Doha Games

Doha: The UAE won their first gold medal of the 12th Arab Games here when their women's shooting team finished first in the 25-metre pistol competition yesterday.

The UAE team scored a total of 1,672 points in the rapid and precision category, putting them ahead of hosts Qatar (1,640) and third-placed Iraq (1,517).

For the winners, Shaikha Saeed Al Rumaithi shot a total of 560 points (283 precision and 277 rapid), Sumaya Al Meshaiei 559 (277 and 282) and Shamma Al Muhairi 553 (283 and 270) to secure the first gold medal for their country in the Games.

Al Meshaiei added another medal to the UAE's haul as she won individual silver in the same category following a tough golden shootout that decided the top eight places.

Al Muhairi led after the preliminary round with a score of 560, followed by teammate Al Meshaiei, but in the final shots pressure took its toll and Olfa Charni from Tunisia won the gold, while the bronze went to Nasra Mahmoud from Qatar. Al Muhairi finished fourth and Al Rumaithi fifth.

In golf, the UAE team finished the second round of competition in second place with a total of 459, two points more than leaders Bahrain and five less than third-placed Egypt.

Al Bishi in the lead

In the singles, Qatari Abdullah Al Bishi snatched the leadership from UAE's Khalid Yousuf, who finished the second round with 148 (+4), level with teammate Ahmad Al Musharrakh. They have one point more than Al Bishi's 147 (+3).

Faris Al Mazrouqi is placed 21st with 164 (+20) and Abdullah Al Musharrakh is 23rd with 165 (+21). There are still two rounds remaining in the competition.

In tennis, the UAE's Omar Bahroozian and Hamad Al Jinahi lost their singles matches to Abdullah Maqdas from Kuwait 6-3, 6-3 and Mohammad Al Gareeb, also from Kuwait, 6-2, 6-2, respectively.

In table tennis, the UAE lost their doubles match to Qatar 2-0, with Rashid Hassan and Rashid Abdul Hamid losing to Al Muhannadi and Al Awlaqi 3-0 (11-6, 11-9 & 13-11).

Jasim Al Linjawi beat Abdul Razzaq Hassan from Djibouti 4-0 (11-3, 11-3, 11-4 & 11-4) in the singles and will face Mounaime Tiersel from Morocco in the second round, while Abdul Hamid will face Salem Al Hassan from Kuwait.

The UAE also lost to Egypt 3-0 (25-18, 25-3, 25-14) in the ladies' volleyball round robin. They will face Algeria today before ending their campaign against Qatar on Sunday.

Earlier, the UAE's bowling team missed out on winning a medal in the trio event as the experienced Shaker Ali and Nayef Ogab again failed to produce their best form.