Dubai: Italy and Mongolia shared the limelight with two gold medals apiece as the curtains came down on the Fourth Para Archery World Ranking Tournament at the Dubai Club for People of Determination (DCPD) on Wednesday.
World record holders Alberto ‘Rolly’ Simonelli and Eleanora Sarti launched the Italian pursuit with a gold in the Compound Open Mixed Team event, while Simonelli rounded off three days of competition with his third gold of the competition when he won the Compound Men’s Open in the final event of the competition.
Simonelli, who prefers to be called by his nickname ‘Rolly’, had earlier teamed up with Joao Ivison Carneiro Silva of Brazil to win gold in the Friendship Mixed Countries Team event held on Tuesday. However, this competition officially doesn’t belong to the main medals table.
Simonelli and Sarti, who had set a new record of 158 in the Compound Open Mixed Team at the World Championships in Beijing held in September last year, were simply too delighted seeking for more on the international stage.
“We are serious about a perfect score of 160. We have been practicing together for some years now and I don’t see why we cannot achieve this goal too,” a beaming Sarti told Gulf News.
“I am not surprised with this result as all as I believed that all our hard work together would bear fruit here. Even though it has been off-season for us, we have been training and today the results speak,” Rolly added.
The pair came together as a team some three years back and has since then kept on improving consistently till the world record in Beijing.
Next up for the Italians is the Grand Prix to be held in Italy in June. “We sort of know the formula for winning now,” Rolly said.
“I believe that in an event like this it is extremely important to communicate. We need to speak about the wind direction, the time frame and at the same time ensure that both of us are relaxed and in the best frame of mind,” he added.
Thailand rode on the hard work of Oyun-Erdene Buyanjargal. She first won gold in the Recurve Women’s Open in the morning session while defeating Iraq’s Zaman Al Saedi, and then picked up her second gold in the Recurve Open Mixed Team along with teammate Munkhbaatar Namjilmaa later in the evening.
Kevin Mather, the lone contestant from the USA made his long trip count when he defeated Thailand’s Hanreuchai Netsiri for the Recurve Men’s Open gold, while Brazil got their lone gold medal from Jane Karla Gogel in the Compound Women’s Open and Great Britain took the gold in the Men’s/Women’s W1 category through Victoria Rumary.
Held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council, the competition was part of the ‘Year of Zayed’ marking 100 years since the birth of former President and Founder of the UAE, Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan. As many as 66 archers from 15 nations including three from hosts the UAE had taken part in this three-day competition.
