Saeed in a class of his own
Olympic hero lives up to expectations to clinch individual gold, team silver
Doha: Shaikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Al Maktoum was in a class of his own as he won the individual gold medal in the men's skeet shooting competition at the 12th Arab Games yesterday, while also steering the UAE to the team silver medal.
Shaikh Saeed shot almost a perfect five rounds of 25 shots each in the two qualifying rounds to score 124 from 125 on Monday and Tuesday to help the UAE team to a total of 358, with Ahmad Mohammad and Saif Bin Futtais scoring 117 each.
While the UAE's score was on par with that of Qatar, the competition's tie-breaking system resulted in Qatar winning gold while the UAE team had to settle for silver.
Mohammad scored a perfect 50 in the two rounds held yesterday, the same as Shaikh Saeed, while Saif scored 47.
Kuwait came third to win the bronze with 355 despite their marksman Zaid Al Mutairy scoring 123, the second highest score behind Shaikh Saeed. Saudi Arabia finished fourth with 342, followed by Morocco on 328.
Shaikh Saeed topped the rankings for the top six individual shooters. He was the only UAE contestant to reach the final, and won the gold by shooting 22 in the final round of 25 to finish with a total of 146.
Dedicates win
He was followed by Egyptian Azmi Mehlib, who shot a perfect 25 for a total of 145, while Kuwaiti Abdulla Al Rashidi shot 24 to win the bronze with a total of 145.
"I dedicate this victory to President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council, and Shaikh Ahmad Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the UAE NOC, for their unflinching support to the youth and sports in our country," Shaikh Saeed said.
Meanwhile, the UAE trap team arrived in Doha yesterday to prepare for their competition, which will take place tomorrow and on Friday. The team features Ahmad Bin Mijrin, Hamad Bin Mijrin and Rashid Bin Mijrin.
