WCF >

INDIA, KUWAIT AND THE UNITED ARAB
EMIRATES LEAD THE MALE EVENTS
India and Kuwait won the most of the medals awarded in male events,
gradually climbing the overall medal standings throughout the championship.
The TRAP MEN competition was won by the India’s 2006
World Champion MANAVJIT SINGH SANDHU, 32 years old, who finished
in first place with a total score of 140 hits after an intense final.
Sandhu qualified in the lead with 121 targets and four clays of advantage
over his followers. Missing more targets than usual, the Indian
shooter scored 19 targets in the final, finishing three targets ahead of
Kuwait’s Silver medallist KHALED ALMUDHAF, second place with a
total score of 137 hits. Sandhu is not new to the Asian Championship
spotlights: the Indian shooter has experience in continental competitions,
having won three consecutive editions from 2005 to 2007. The
Trap Men Bronze medal went to the second Indian shooter, MANSH-
ER SINGH, a 2004 Asian Champion, who placed in third with a total
of 134 hits after defeating Naser Meqlad of Kuwait by 4 to 3 targets in
a shoot-off for the podium.
Kuwait found its way to the highest step of the podium thanks to the
efforts of 46-year old ABDULLAH ALRASHIDI, who won the SKEET
MEN Gold with a total score of 148 targets. The three-time World
Champion and four-time Asian Champion qualified for the final match
in first place with 124 hits, and managed his head start over his followers
with a 24-hit final round. Following him, SHEIK SAEED AL-
MAKTOUM of the United Arab Emirates obtained the Silver medal
also as a result of a perfect final round of 25 hits. Almaktoum started
the match with a qualification score of 121 targets, but he climbed
the scoreboard right to the last shot, defeating Kazakhstan’s SERGEY
YAKSHIN in a determinant shoot-off for the Silver. Almaktoum has
obtained prestigious awards within the frame of Asian Championship:
he won the 2003 edition in New Delhi, won a Silver medal in
2000, and earned Bronze in 2003. Yakshin, shooting before his own
audience, closed the Skeet Men final in third place, but his results
delivered the home team to first place, earning Kazakhstan a team
Gold medal.
The Indian team and the UAE’s shooters also played important roles
at the DOUBLE TRAP MEN event. India’s World Cup multi-medallist
RONJAN SODHI, 29 years old, led the Double Trap Men competition,
ending up in first place with a total of 187 hits and three targets
of advantage over his followers. Sodhi, who placed in second at the
2007 Asian Championship in Manila, had never won the title before.
Following him, 29-year old RASHID AL-ATHBA of Qatar obtained the
Silver after a neck and neck duel against the UAE’s SAIF ALSHAMSY.
Both athletes qualified for the final round with a tied score of 140
hits, and both missed six targets throughout the final match, ending
up with a tied score of 144 hits. In the following shoot-off, which
was necessary in order to assign the Silver and the Bronze medal,
Al-Athba defeated his opponent in a shoot off by 2 to 1 hits, thus
contributing to Qatar’s excellent place in the overall medal standings.
While Sodhi’s team claimed the Gold for India with 400 targets, the
United Arab Emirates placed in second, earning the Silver medal with
391 hits, and Qatar finished in third with 386 hits.
ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
A class of its own
Vaclav Haman with his STEYR LG 110 Match
©2009 ISSF | Photo: Marco Dalla Dea
ISSF NEWS 31