(Photo: Qatar Olympic Team / Twitter)
Baku: Qatari shooter Kholoud Hassan Al Khalaf won her country's first medal of the 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games, which are taking place in Baku with more than 3,000 athletes from 54 countries participating.
She won bronze in the trap shooting competition, winning third place despite strong competition from world champions in that competition. Al Khalaf was also close to winning one of the top two positions, but eventually had to settle for third place.
The gold medal went to Turkish world champion Nihan Gurer. She finished with 41 points, four more than second-placed Shafag Amrahova of Azerbaijan. Qatar's Khouloud Hassan Al Khalaf settled for the bronze a further eight points adrift.
Qatar is featuring many of its athletes in the shooting competitions. In trap shooting, Qatar was represented by Al Khalaf, Bana Haji, and Amna Al Abdullah. In the skeet competition, Qatar is featured through three other players.
Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) Secretary-General Dr Thani bin Abdulrahman Al Kuwari and head of Qatar's delegation to the games praised the performances of Qatari athletes in the shooting competitions and commended Al Khalaf on winning the first medal for Qatar in the games.
Al Kuwari said that the main goal of participating in the games was to help the athletes gain experience, in addition to winning many medals. He added that competing at such a high level will be a good test for the country's young athletes on their path to other international sporting events in the future.
For her part, Al Khalaf expressed her pride at winning the medal especially that it came after a strong competition with a number of world champions in the category.
Qatar Shooting and Archery Federation secretary general Ahmed Majid Al Nuaimi expressed his delight at Al Khalaf's win in the trap shooting competition. He stressed that the medal will be a motivation for all the other athletes to give their best in order to win.
