Qatar's Saeed Abusharib in action during the qualifying rounds of men's trap shooting at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre, yesterday.
Doha: Qatari shooter Saeed Abusharib concluded his participation yesterday at the Paris 2024 Olympics, finishing in 23rd place in his maiden Games appearance in the Games.
Competing in the men's trap event. Abusharib registered a score of 118 after five rounds of shooting in the qualifiers at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre in Chateauroux, a suburb of Paris.
In an event that saw intense competition, Abusharib showed commendable performance across five rounds, hitting 24, 22, 24, 25, and 23 targets respectively.
Following the qualifying round which took place yesterday morning, the 40-year-old Abusharib expressed his satisfaction with his Olympic debut.
"Reaching the final was my goal, and the best is yet to come. I am happy with my performance and will start preparing for future commitments to achieve even better results," Abusharib told the Qatar Olympic Committee media team.
Saudi Minister of Sports and President of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee H H Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal Al Saud with the Qatari and Saudi officials.
Among the Arab participants, Moroccan Idriss Al Haffari hit 122 targets but narrowly missed out a place in the final after a tiebreaker.
Kuwait's Khaled Al Mudhaf finished 17th with 120, while Oman's Saeed Al Khatri finished 30th with 114 hits.
Another Olympic debutant, Great Britain's Nathan Hales recorded a score of 123 out of 125 from five rounds to progress to the finals and went on to win the gold by setting a new Games record, hitting 48 shots out of 50.
China's Qi Ying claimed silver with 44 hits, while Guatemala's Jean Pierre Brol Cardenas secured the bronze medal with a score of 35.
Abusharib's compatriot, Rashid Saleh Al Athba, who booked his ticket to Paris by winning the bronze medal at the World Skeet Championships in 2022, will compete in the qualifying round in skeet shooting, on August 2.
QOC Secretary-General attends Saudi reception
Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) Secretary-General Jassim bin Rashid Al Buenain attended the Saudi reception in Paris, yesterday, on the sidelines of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games. Accompanying the Secretary-General were QOC Director of Sport Sector Sheikh Khalifa bin Khalid Al Thani, and Assistant Director of the International Relations and Communication Department Ms. Sara Al Misnad.
They were received by the Saudi Minister of Sports and President of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee H H Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal Al Saud, and the Vice President of the Committee, Prince Fahd bin Jalawi bin Abdulaziz.
COVID-19 threatens athletes
The number of athletes testing positive for COVID-19 continued to rise at the Paris 2024 Athletes Village, it was reported yesterday.
Australian medal hope Lani Pallister has tested positive for Covid at the Paris Olympics and pulled out of the women's 1500m freestyle yesterday.
It was a shattering blow for the 22-year-old, who finished third at the 2022 world championships and was primed for a strong showing in Paris.
Pallister is the second swimmer to test positive this week following British breaststroke silver medallist Adam Peaty.
