Qatari shooters shine in Open Shotgun Championship Friday, 03 February 2012 23:45

Makela-Nummela of Finland (centre) winners in the Trap event at the 2012 Qatar Open Shotgun Championshp, poses for a group picture with Zuzana Stefecekova of Slovakia and Nihan Kantarci of Turkey at the Losail Shooting Complex yesterday. RIGHT: Cigdem Ozyaman of Turkey winner in the Skeet event at the 2012 Qatar Open Shotgun Championship at Losail Shooting Complex with Qatari duo of Sarah Ghulam Mohammed and Hajar Ghulam Mohammed.

Doha: Cigdem Ozyaman of Turkey and Satu Makela-Nummela of Finland won the Skeet and Trap events respectively in the 2012 Qatar Open Shotgun Championship at Losail Shooting complex here yesterday.

The 2011 European champion from Turkey shot down 85 of the 100 clay pigeons in Skeet finishing ahead of Qatari duo of Sarah Ghulam Mohammed and Hajar Ghulam Mohammed in the championship organized by Qatar Shooting and Archery Federation (QSAF). Qatar’s Sarah finished with a score of 72 while compatriot Hajar with a card of 71.

In the Trap event, Makela-Nummela an Olympic Gold Medalist at the Beijing 2008 Games overcame poor scores in the qualifying round to clinch the first place. In a keenly contested event Zuzana Stefecekova of Slovakia claimed the second spot while Nihan Kantarci of Turkey came third.

Stefecekova the 2008 Olympics Games silver medalist who finished second to Makela-Nummela in the Beijing Games had also to contend with the second spot in Qatar. Makela-Nummela finished with a score of 65 in the qualifying rounds while the 1999 European Champion and the 2010 World Champion had a score card of 65.

The Slovak, who came to Qatar having won the silver medal in World Championships in 2011 slipped in the final round to finish with a score of 80. Makela-Nummela on the other hand fare well in the final round of 25 and had a card of 86.

Kantarci the 1999 European Champion finished third.

The top-six shooters in each category will be awarded cash prizes. First place winners get $5000. The other prize money incentives are as follows: 2nd place $4000, 3rd place $3000, 4th place $2000, 5th place $1000 and 6th place 1000.

Some of the world’s top shooters will compete in the $70,000 in the five-day event.

Seventy-nine competitors from 13 countries are taking part in the championship which will end on Tuesday. 49 Qatari shooters are taking part in the championship.

The competition for men and women will be held in trap, double trap and skeet categories. The men’s skeet and trap finals will be held today. The double trap finals, for men and women, will be held on Monday. The Peninsula

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