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Tribune News Network
DOHA
Hamad al Marri of Qatar secured a bronze medal in the Men's Double Trap at the Amir of Kuwait International Shooting Championship in Massa Martana, Italy.
At the Tiro a Volo Umbriaverde Shooting Range, the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games third-place winner Marri shot 136 to qualify for the finals behind leader and eventual winner Andrea Vescovi from Italy, UAE's Khaled Alkaabi and Italian Marco Innocenti, the Rio Olympics silver medallist who has been twice world champion and won multiple medals at the World Cup Finals and World Cups.
In the finals, the Qatari showed his cool and nerves to collect 56 to get the third place. He missed out on the silver medal, which was won by Alkaabi, just by a shot.
Young Italian Vescovi, who has been the 2014 World Junior Championship gold medallist, fired 58 to emerge as the champion in a truly world-class field.
Out of 12 qualifiers, there were just three non-Italian shooters.
Marri was also involved in a marathon shootoff with Italian Alessandro Chianese, the 2016 Nicosia World Cup and 2010 World Championship silver medallist, to decide the fourth best qualifier after both contrived 136 each in the qualifying rounds. He got the better of him by 11-10.
Alkaabi was edged by Innocenti for the second place but in the finals, the Emirati did well to finish the runner-up, while his rival could manage only the seventh spot.
Marri expressed his joy at winning the third place in the tough competition, in which had so many star rivals."I felt the pressure from other shooters as the event progressed. But the confidence gained in various competitions at the Losail Ranges helped me a lot in dealing with the situation.
"I'm very happy to get the third place out of 78 shooters in the event. By God's grace, I cleared round after round. I hope to continue this kind of performance and bring more successes home," he added.
Qatar Shooting and Archery Association Presient Ali Mohammed al Kuwari congratulated Marri and the team for the success. He said,"We're proud of what Hamad achieved in the Amir Cup in Italy. We'll continue our tough and highly technical training programme to raise the level of our shooters in international events. The coming months are going to be very crucial for the Qatari shooters and we're aiming to gain maximum possible slots for the Tokyo Games in 2020."
