BY RIZWAN REHMAT
DOHA: French modern pentathlete Christopher Patte yesterday relied on a powerful session in the fencing competition to win the Champion of Champions title at Al Shaqab Arena.
The 23-year-old topped the fencing event to manage a tally of 5,760 points on way to victory against a strong field of 16 pentathletes.
Cuba’s Jose Figueroa won the silver with a score of 5,720 points while Stanislau Zhurauliou of Belarus finished in the third spot (5,696).
Patte was pleased with his performance.
“I am very happy. Winning in Qatar is satisfying. Competition here was tough,” Patte said.
“I showed good form from the very first competition this year. I am very happy with my performance this season. Fencing was good for me. This is a great facility, wow.
“Yes, I was happy with my running but my main event is shooting. I am too fat (laughs). I am preparing for my holiday now. I hope I can reach Rio (Olympic Games in 2016),” he added.
“Of course I am happy with my performance. At this level this is my first major show,” the 23-year-old said.
“The combined event was my strength. I won the fencing event and that pleased me. I trained two months for this event,” he added.
Second-placed Figueroa, who was expecting to finish in the top five, was thrilled with the result.
“First I would like to go for the Pan American Games and then maybe the Olympic Games. This is a great venue. I was expecting to finish in top five but I am happy I finished in second place,” Figueroa, who won the combined event, said.
A fire fighter at his hometown in Homel, Zhurauliou of Belarus said he was delighted to secure a place on the podium.
“I am very happy. This is a nice venue with a strong field,” the 25-year-old said.
“I am very pleased. For me this was a surprising result because I trained only two weeks in the lead-up to this event,” the silver medallist at the 2012 UIPM World Cup in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, said.
“Maybe if I train harder I could do better. Fencing and shooting were my strong points and this is a beautiful result for me. I want to do better in future,” he added.
The fencing event saw Figueroa and Zhurauliou share first place, followed closely by Patte.
The Qatar Foundation Recreation Centre saw Egyptian Amro El Geziry dominate, beating his nearest rival by 1.2 seconds in swimming.
After the opening two events, Patte was leading the competition.
At Al Shaqab Arena, in the showjumping event saw Patte keep his lead on the general ranking, taking a comfortable sixth place after his ride.
With a fantastic performance, Figueroa won the showjumping event and moved up to third place in the standings before the final combined events.
Leader Patte started the combined events first and kept his winning position until the end of the race with Figueroa and Zhurauliou unable to threaten his lead. THE PENINSULA
