KUWAIT: President of Kuwait and Arab Shooting Federations Eng Duaij Khalaf Al-Otaibi said the 11th Asian Airgun and the 8th Shotgun Shooting Championships will be held under the patronage of President of Civil Aviation, Honorary President of Civil Aviation, Honorary President of Kuwait and Asian Shooting Federations Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Humoud Al-Sabah, adding that 35 countries represented by 600 shooters will participate.

Al-Otaibi, who spoke during a press conference at Crowne Plaza hotel, in the presence of Secretary General of Kuwait and Arab Shooting Federations thanked Sheikh Salman for his patronage of the tournament that will be held at Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Olympic Shooting Complex, which will start Nov 2, and continue until Nov 12, while the opening ceremony will be Nov 3. He said some delegations have already arrived and all will be in town in two days.

Al-Otaibi said the technical meeting will be held, Nov 3, and will be followed by unofficial training, while official competition will begin Nov 4.

He said the tournament is very important because it covers all types of shooting and has special attention in Kuwait that has special status in the sport of shooting and hosts both Arab and Asian shooting federations, besides having one of the best shooting ranges in the world.

He said Kuwait reached advanced places and made international achievements due to the continued support by HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. He lauded the latest victories that were made by Kuwait shooters lately most importantly the Asiad gold medal by Mansour Al-Rashidi and Abdelrahman Al-Faihan's winning in South Korea and qualified for Tokyo 2020 Olympics, that in addition to the junior's winning in Kazakhstan International Championship.

He said Kuwait shooters are training hard for the Asian championships bearing in mind that strong countries such as Korea, China, Japan, Kazakhstan and others are participating. He added that the technical committee already made its selection of players who will participate.

Eng Duaij Al-Otaibi said there will be important meetings to be held during the tournament with Asian dignitaries in attendance, adding that there was not any obstacles faced by the shooting club in organizing the event because of the support of Public Authority for Sports and its Director General Dr Humoud Fulaiteh.

By Abdellatif Sharaa