Dubai: American world champion Gebben Miles started his title defence in style to take sole possession of the leader board at the end of the opening day of the second Nad Al Sheba Shooting Competition at Nad Al Sheba shooting range on Wednesday.
Miles, who claimed the top prize ahead of Spain’s Jose Manuel Rodriguez Andujar and teammate Anthony Matarese last year, was on target 48 times out of a possible 50 to keep sole possession. Chasing the American world champion was the duo of Darren Coumbe from Great Britain and UAE-based Marwan Alama, a protégé of 2004 Olympic gold medallist Shaikh Ahmad Hasher Al Maktoum with the Nad Al Sheba Shooting Team.
Three shooters from Great Britain — Paul Thomas, Brett Winstanley and James Attwood — were tied with scores of 45, while another six shot 44s to stay in the hunt of the total prize money of more than $1 million (Dhs3.67 million) when the fourth and final round concludes on Saturday.
Complementing Miles was his teammate Carolyn Smith as she led in the women’s competition ahead of Sweden’s Anna Jarnald and the British duo of Janine Preece and Natasha Blockwell and American Deborah Lee Davis. Smith held a one-shot advantage with a score of 45, followed by Jarnald with 44 while Preece, Blockwell and the American shooter followed with 41 and 38s respectively.
Shaikh Ahmad was pleased with the way his student was challenging some of the best shooters in the world. “Though he is just 20-something, he has been showing a lot of promise during training. What stands out is his willingness to learn,” Shaikh Ahmad told Gulf News about Alama.
“I expect him to learn and get even better in due course. And this total of his on the opening day of the competition is indicative of what he can do in the future,” he added.
Matarese, who had led at the halfway stage last year, only to end in third place, had a dismal start on Wednesday as he finished outside the top-20. “Things didn’t go too well for me out there. But the good thing is that I have the remaining three days to try and catch up with the field in front of me,” Matarese said.
“I think I got a good feel of the range today, and hopefully with my sort of experience I expect to keep on improving and finish strong on Saturday,” he added.
