Al Attiyah displays top form, clinches silver at Qatar Open

Qatar’s Nasser bin Saleh Al Attiyah staged a magnificent rearguard action in the final rounds of the of the Qatar Open Shotgun Championship to clinch skeet silver at the Losail Shooting Range yesterday.
The 46-year-old, bronze medallist at the 2012 London Olympic Games, who barely squeezed past the qualifying stage through a shoot-out, performed in exemplary fashion in the decisive round to finish behind gold winning Frenchman Anthony Terras.
Al Attiyah, a two-time Dakar Rally champion, made it past the qualifying stage along with Ben Llewellin of Great Britian after Saif Bin Futais of UAE got eliminated in the three-way shoot-out. The trio finished with a score of 121 in the qualifying round, forcing a shoot-out.
Yesterday’s podium finish was a double delight for Al Attiyah who kept to his promise of winning more medals for Qatar before the 2020 Tokyo Games.
“It is fantastic to win a silver medal. I had promised Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, (President of Qatar Olympic Committee) after we returned from Rio 2016 Games that I will win more medals for Qatar ahead of the Tokyo Games. I have lived up to the promise and hopefully more will follow,” said Al Attiyah, who was taking part in his first international event after last year’s Olympic Games.
In Rio, Al Attiyah failed to make it past the qualification stage in skeet.
For Al Attiyah, this was his first medal at the Qatar Open Shotgun championship, and the first one after the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
“I have cut down on a number of races to concentrate on shooting,” added Al Attiyah, in response to a question.
On his participation at the upcoming World Cup, Al Attiyah appeared up beat for the event in the Indian capital city.
“Yes, the good performance in the Qatar Open Shotgun will certainly will me confidence and a boost. I am leaving tomorrow for India,” said the ace shooter.
 For Qatar, it was their second silver medal of the nine-day championship which concluded yesterday.
Meanwhile, in the final round, Terras, the 31-year-old from Marseille, bronze medal winner at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, came with a near perfect display, missing just two targets in the final round on way to the title.
Terras, who shot down 58 targets in the final round compared to Nasser’s 55, was delighted to pick up his third gold medal from the Qatar event in five visits.
“It was difficult conditions for shooting. Not an easy competition. It was windy yesterday (Monday) in the qualifying rounds and today in the second round of qualifying and the final rounds. But, due credit to all the shooters for keeping their focus and getting good scores,” said the Frenchman, who finished as winner in the skeet event at the same championship in 2013 and last year.
“This range is very nice to me. The range is fantastic. I love shooting here and has developed a special relationship,” added Terras, who also won gold at the Military Shooting Championship held at the same range last year.
Terras is not going to the World Cup in India, which starts on February 23 on account of funds crunch at the federation.
“I am not going to New Delhi. My federation has no money to pay for my expenses,” said the winner.
Terras said with the Olympics three years away and no quota issue to deal with he is spending more time with his family.
“I am not taking part in the many events this year as it is not an Olympic year,” he added.
Anton Astakhov of Russia took the bronze beating off competition from Great Britain’s Ben Llewellin and Qatar’s Khaled Al Muhannadi.
Al Muhannadi, who made it to the last-six final round with a score of 122, flattered in the final rounds to finish fifth. Llewellin came fourth.
France’s Emmanuel Petit, eliminated in the early stages of the final round, took the sixth place.