Al-Attiyah’s heroics gives Qatar silver and bronze in Hangzhou

Nasser al-Attiyah added another chapter to his long list of achievements on Wednesday, as the legendary sports star helped Qatar to open its medals tally at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
Al-Attiyah first led the men’s skeet team – also consisting of Masoud al-Athba and Rashid al-Athba – to the silver medal, before he returned to win bronze in the individual final.
It needed something special to stop al-Attiyah from winning gold on Wednesday and Kuwait’s Abdullah al-Rashidi did just that as the 60-year-old veteran shot
a perfect 60 shots to equal the world record and win his fourth Asian Games gold medal in skeet shooting. India’s Anantjeet Singh Naruka was also equally brilliant on the day as the 25-year-old missed only two targets to secure silver ahead
of al-Attiyah, who shot 46 from
50 targets.
Five-time Dakar Rally champion al-Attiyah’s exploits in motorsports is such that his achievements in shooting is often underplayed. Wednesday’s medals was his fifth at the Asian Games – having been part of Qatar’s team that won the skeet team event at the 2002 and 2010 Asian Games in Busan and Guangzhou, respectively. He also won a bronze medal in the individual event at Guangzhou 2010.
A veteran of six Olympics, al-Attiyah’s biggest achievement came at the 2012 London Games, where he won a bronze medal. Before that he had agonisingly fell short of securing a medal as he finished fourth at 2004 Athens Games and sixth at 2000 Sydney Games.
Now he has set his sights on qualifying for a seventh Olympic Games appearance at Paris next year at the age of 53. “These medals are a huge boost for me ahead of the qualifiers for Paris Olympics, which is now my next target,” al-Attiyah said on Wednesday, with two medals draped around his neck.
“It was a tough competition as seen throughout the event. We are delighted to clinch a silver and a bronze medal in skeet and I want to thank the Qatar Olympic Committee for all their support. My target was to win gold in individual skeet but hats off to Abdullah al-Rashidi who was outstanding in the event,” he added.
On Wednesday, al-Attiyah made it to the six-man final by finishing third with a total of 122 shots after the qualifications, which was spread over two days. But more importantly it ensured a silver medal for Qatar. Masoud al-Athba narrowly missed out on the final spot after scoring 119 from five rounds but his seventh-place finish and his sibling Rashid’s 14th place finish too played a part in Qatar winning its first medal in Hangzhou. China took the gold with a score of 362 points, while India took home bronze with 355.
In the event where the shotgun wielding shooters attempt to shoot and break clay targets fired into the air at high speeds and varying angles, al-Attiyah’s hands seem to tremble before he fires his shot. But he often hit the bull’s eye on Wednesday as he looked in no mood to stop his shooting career, which he has juggled successfully with his driving career.
And al-Attiyah need not look elsewhere for inspiration after witnessing al-Rashidi’s record-equalling feat from close quarters on Wednesday. The 60-year-old – who has bronze medals from the Rio and Tokyo Olympics – said the secret to his longevity and his sharp vision is staying away from the phone and social media.
To put al-Rashidi’s age in perspective, India’s silver medallist Naruka was born in 1998 – the same year the veteran Kuwaiti shooter won his third world title.
“I am happy to win a fourth gold medal because I am over 60 years old. On ThursdayI only missed one target out of 110 targets. This happens when you play every day, you exercise, go swimming, and eat well,” al-Rashidi said.
When asked about his training regime, he said: “You keep your body strong. I don’t look at the phone or Twitter, because this is not good for your eyes. I look after my body and my health, and I go to sleep early and wake up early. I make a good but difficult training programme, to look to the future.”
With the Paris Olympics around the corner in 2024, al-Rashidi said he still has a long way to go before he decides to call it a day.
Meanwhile, Qatar’s women shooter Reem al-Sharshani missed out on a medal on Wednesday after finishing fifth in the final. Al-Sharshani, who took the sixth and final spot for the medal round after two days of qualification, made 27 hits out of 30. In the team’s competition, which also consisted of Hajar Mohamed and Sarah
Mohamed, Qatar finished fifth.