Dubai: The UAE trio of Shaikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Al Maktoum, Saif Bin Futais and Mohammad Ahmad returned home triumphant after clinching the team bronze medal in Skeet at the ISSF World Shooting that concluded in Belgrade, Serbia.
"To compete and win at such a high level tournament is a great achievement. And now that we are aware of the performance we can come up with, it will be our endeavour to continue practising with an eye on the Olympic Games in London next year," Shaikh Saeed told media after arriving by special flight at the Royal Wing of the Dubai International Airport early yesterday.
"The competition in Serbia was of a high level, in fact even higher than at an Olympic Games, so we have done well for ourselves. It is now the time to take things to the next level and prepare really well in London," he added.
Shaikh Saeed teamed up with Bin Futais and Ahmad to tally a total of 366 to finish behind Russia — led by reigning world champion Valeriy Shomin with 367 hits — and Denmark with an identical score of 366.
Shoot-off
"The individual competition is very tough, but I think the team competition is even tougher. We can be proud of the fact that we have done so well at the international stage," Shaikh Saeed said.
Earlier in the individual Skeet competition, Spaniard Juan Jose Aramburu won a three-way shoot-off to claim the gold and an automatic place at next year's Olympic Games in London.
Competing against Tore Brovold of Norway and Kuwait's Abdullah Al Rashidi, the 21st ranked shooter in the world, held his nerve when it mattered most to notch up an outstanding total of 149 of a possible 150 to walk away with top honours.
Brovold took the silver and Al Rashidi had to stay content with the bronze.
