By Armstrong Vas
Doha: Spaniard Alberto Fernandez emerged as a surprise win in the men’s Trap event on the concluding day of the week-long Qatar Open Shotgun championship.
Yesterday at the Lusail Shooting Range, Fernandez stood tall amidst the windy conditions while champion shooters were made to look like absolute green horns.
In challenging weather conditions, Italian multiple Olympic Games winners Giovanni Pellielo and Massimo Fabbrizi put up a disappointing show, failing to qualify for the semi-final.
On a day of shoot-outs, the 32-year-old Rio-bound Fernandez won two play-off’s, first to qualify for the semi-final and a second one in the gold medal match to take home the top prize of $7000.
In the final shoot-out, Fernandez won the marathon tussle for supremacy with Waldemar Schanz of Germany 16-15.
The two were tied at 14-all at the end of the first round of 15 targets, forcing a shoot-out.
The two continued in the same vein, knocking down all the 15 targets to attain a perfect score of 15-all forcing the organisers to go in for another round of a shoot-out to break the deadlock.
The impasse ended with the 31 target of the shoot-out when Fernandez hit the bull’s eye while the 47-year-old Schanz, missed his aim, to hand Fernandez his first win of the season.
For the Spaniard, the win in Qatar was a lucky one as he had no intention of taking part in the Shotgun Championship and only a week-long training camp at Lusail Shooting range Range was on his itinerary.
“I came here for just one week of training at the Lusail shooting Complex ahead of the new season. I had no idea that a Shotgun Championship is taking part. After landing up here, I came to know that there is a championship and I took part. And the rest as they say is history,” said Fernandez, during the victory ceremony.
In the end, the Qatar win turned out to be quite a bonus for Fernandez, who is looking for his first medal at the Olympic Games.
The Spaniard has so far taken part in two Olympic Games, finishing 33 in Beijing and 25th in the next Games in London and is hoping to end the medal drought in Rio.
“The windy conditions were very bad. The targets were moving all over the place and in all directions, some used to go high and some low. So it was bad. You do not know where you have to aim at. So it was is difficult,” added Fernandez, a shooter for the last two decades
Runner-up Schanz said luck played a big part in who took the top honours.
“Abdulrahman Alfaihan of Kuwait and I were involved in a shoot-out last year. I was the lucky one, I came third and he fourth. Now Alberto (Fernandez) was the lucky one. But it was great. It was really difficult to hit the targets on account of the wind. But in the final it was not a problem, less windy,” the German said.
“In the morning session it was really horrible. Sometimes you need a little bit luck. Sometimes you have bad luck,” he added.
The German said he had retired two years ago from the international shooting and the German national shooting team because they said: “I am too old and not good enough. Qatar Shooting and Archery Association invited me, I am here for the fourth time. I hope to come back next year.”
Earlier, Italian duo of Pellielo and Fabbrizi, the two shooters who were expected to dominate at the event, did not qualify for the semi-final. Fabbrizi finished 11 and Pellielo, four places down.
Between them they have four Games medals against their name. Fabbrizi won silver at the last Olympic Games in London and Pellielo, clinched silver at two successive games in 2004 and 2008 and a bronze at the 2000 Games. Yavuz Ilnam Turkey took the third place after winning the bronze medal match against Mitchell Iles-Crevatin of Australia. The Peninsula
