KUWAIT: Kuwait’s lady shooters excelled during the second day of competition in HH The Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Tournament and 13th Gulf Championship being held at Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Shooting Complex Friday. They propelled Kuwait to second place in total medals won. Kuwait’s ladies won nine medals out of 10, four gold three silver and three bronze.

Shooter Mariam Irzouqi won the gold medal in the 10m air rifle event following fierce competition with Qatar’s Siham Al-Hasani, while Heba Irzouqi ended with bronze. Meanwhile in the teams event, Mariam and Heba Irzouqi along with Ayat Al-Duwaikhi won first place and the gold medal followed by Qatar and Bahrain. In the 10m air pistol, Bahrain’s Mouza Abdallah won first, followed by compatriot Lubna Ahmad and Qatar’s Hanadi Salem. Kuwait’s team won the bronze medal through shooters Israa Bahman, Awatif Al-Qallaf and Huthama Al-Baghli.

Meanwhile the gold medal was won by Bahrain and silver to Oman. Kuwait’s Khalid Al-Subaie won the 50m prone silver medal as Qatar’s Ali Al-Muhannadi won gold and Saudi Arabia’s Abdelrahman Al-Juhaidli won the bronze. In the team’s event Bahrain won first place, followed by Oman and Qatar. The women’s trap event Kuwait’s Shahad Al- Hawal won gold followed by Sarah Al-Hawal and Qatar’s Khuloud Al-Khalaf won bronze. In the team’s event Shahad and Sarah Al-Hawal with teammate Fatima Abdelmalik won the silver medal for Kuwait while first place went to Qatar and Oman took the bronze.

The gold medal in the women’s team skeet event went to Kuwait by Iman Al-Shammaa, Sheikha Al-Rashidi and Afrah Mohammad, while Qatar was in second place and Bahrain third. Meanwhile Sheikha Al-Rashi won the bronze behind Qatar’s Hajar Mohammad and Sarah Mohammad. Bahrain maintained its medal lead with (5 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze), followed by Kuwait (4 gold, 6 silver and 4 bronze), Qatar (4 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze), Oman (1 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze), Saudi Arabia (1 gold and 2 bronze), UAE (1 gold, 2 bronze).

Meanwhile, President of Kuwait and Arab Shooting Federation Eng. Duaij Al-Otaibi said the Gulf Organizational meeting, that was held here in Kuwait Friday decide to hold the next Gulf Championship in UAE. He said all those attending the meeting thanked HH The Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah for his patronage of the shooting sport in Kuwait in particular and GCC countries in general, they also thanked H.H. The Crown Prince for his kind patronage of the 13th Gulf tournament, as well as HH the Prime Minister.

Al-Otaibi said that the meeting approved holding training courses in order to pay more attention to women’s shooting in particular and elevate their levels in the GCC countries. He said the meeting recommended the continuation of cooperation in the interest of referees, and meet all their requirements as officiating in a very important element in improving Gulf shooting. Kuwait’s shooter Mariam Irzouqi said the Gulf tournament is considered a successful training camp to prepare for Asia’s championship, in which there will be strong competition and there will be outstanding champions in Asia which requires extra efforts and special preparation. Irzouqi said the final round of the 10m rifle was the decisive round, and was a special challenge for her, as Oman’s team was the expected to win the gold while being 20 points ahead of us, but we were able to overcome that and took first place at the end.

By Abdellatif Sharaa