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Al-Ahram Weekly 18 - 24 May 2000 Issue No. 482 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 18 - 24 May 2000 Issue No. 482
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Features Heritage Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Missing the mark
By Nashwa Abdel-TawabIt began the way it started. With a bang. But Egypt's marksmen bowed out without making much noise in the World Cup shooting championship.
At the Armed Forces Shooting Club, 235 men and women from 42 countries vied to hit an assortment of targets but the historically-talented Italians and newcomers on the scene, the Americans, called the shots.
In the trap, Lance Bade of the US hit the bull's-eye more consistently than anyone else, smashing 143 clay pigeons out of 150. Former world champion Italian Marco Venturini came second. In the team event, the roles were reversed. Italy came first, followed by the US and Spain. In both events Egypt's shooters were literally missing. Ahmed Badran and Adham Medhat came in 36th place while Tarek Thabet placed an even worse 48th. Susanne Kiermayer from Germany topped the trap women event in the Grand Prix Championship, held simultaneously with the World Cup.
In the main double trap event, in which 50 team guns shot at a total of 200 targets, Charles Redding from the US came out on top, followed by Mashfi Al-Mutairi of Kuwait. In the team event Kuwait turned the tables on the US, coming first, followed by the US and Spain. Egypt's Ayman Mazhar came 14th, Mohamed Shazli 28th and Gaber Hafiza 35th. The three, however, managed to take seventh place in the team event. Kimberly Rhode of the US was crowned the women's double trap queen.
In the sport's most popular event, the skeet, Egypt saved face somewhat by finishing third in the team event behind France and Cuba. Individually, 93 guns took part with Cuban Torres Guillermo coming first, followed by Ukrainian Mykola Milchev and Frenchman Jean-Francois Dellac. Egypt's Mohamed Khorshid came sixth, Mustafa Hamdi seventh and Khaled Thabet 12th. In the women's Grand Prix final skeet event, American Connie Smotek, an ex-world champion, restored some past glory by finishing first.
The American dominance was clear. "In the early years of shooting, Germans and Russians reigned supreme," said Unni Nicolaysen, International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) vice president and head of the event's technical delegation. "Then came the Italians and Australians." It was only five years ago, Nicolaysen added, that the United States started capturing gold medals in all events."
An Egyptian contestant takes aim
photo: Kamal El-Garnousi
Christine Alexander, ISSF member, noted the different schools of shooting. "There are three," Alexander said. "The Italians are stiff, holding their guns tight. They stop breathing up until they shoot. The Australians are very loose. Relaxed and then they suddenly shoot. The Americans developed a new style, a mixture of both schools and maybe that's why they are dominating now."
American skeet champion Connie Smotek said her shooting federation was taking good care of juniors as well as seniors. "There is a ready standby team and a promising generation of strong male and female shooters," Smotek said. "It's an enjoyable beneficial sport which is fun. That's why Americans like it." Smotek added, "Shooting requires discipline, quick reflexes, physical fitness and 100 per cent concentration."
All these attributes were missing in the Egyptians. Despite the weak results, Wahib Abu Seif, president of the Egyptian Shooting Federation, insisted the performance was good. "It's far better than we expected," said Abu Seif. "The best shooters are gathered here, triple the number we'll face in the Olympics."
In explaining why other countries are so much better, Abu Seif said the Americans, among others, "have great facilities that have buoyed them in the last five years."
Abu Seif admitted that the lack of foreign trainers had affected technique. "Foreign trainers are very expensive," he said. "We hired a Russian because their salaries are lower," but an American coach has also agreed to visit and give training courses.
Abu Seif said the federation had decided to concentrate more on the juniors who will represent Egypt in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.
