Dubai: The UAE's best hope for qualifying to the 2012 London Olympics believes he can only get what he deserves as he mounts his final charge for a spot at next year's Games during this week's ISSF World Championships Shotgun in Belgrade, Serbia.
"One cannot beat the time factor especially while trying to qualify for an event like the Olympic Games. I only got up six months back and tried to beat the time factor by trying to make it to London next year. You can only get what you deserve in the end," Shaikh Ahmad Hasher Mohammad Al Maktoum, the UAE's Olympic gold medalist told Gulf News from Belgrade yesterday.
Since setting his eyes on the 2012 London Olympics at the beginning of this year, Shaikh Ahmad has shown constant improvement in his performances over the past few months. He has attempted Olympic qualifying on the ISSF quota by participating in ISSF competitions in Concepcion, Chile (March 1-9); Beijing, China (April 19-28) and more recently in Maribor, Slovenia (July 7-16).
Shaikh Ahmad's best performance came in Slovenia this summer where he ended up eighth overall at the end of the mandatory three preliminary rounds, to miss out on a spot in the final.
Give my best
"I can't change the world in such a short period of time. All I can do is give off my best and try and get one of the automatic qualifying spots by winning this week," he promised.
Winner of the Double Trap gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics, Shaikh Ahmad refrained from delving too much on lost opportunities during previous competitions on the international circuit. "I made a couple of mistakes and paid for it. Qualifying for an event like an Olympic Games is one of the nightmares a shooter has to face. But one really cannot afford to remain in the past… he has to go to the next one. And that is precisely what I am doing," Shaikh Ahmad noted.
And barring the 12th Asian Shooting Championships to be held in Doha in January next year, this week may well be Shaikh Ahmad's final opportunity to qualify for London 2012. "I need to give it my best shot this week. If not, I'll quietly pack my bags and go home," he said.
The UAE has a squad of eleven shooters in Belgrade this week with Shaikh Ahmad joined by Saif Al Shamsi and Ahmad Dhahi in the double trap, while Shaikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Al Maktoum will hope to qualify in the Skeet along with Ahmad Mohammad and Saif Bin Futais. There are another five shooters in the Trap discipline, namely Ahmad Bin Mejren, Rashid Bin Mejren and Hamad Al Kendi along with juniors Mohammad Abdullah Omar and Butti Sultan.
