World champion Maria Grozdova wins silver

KUWAIT: Tunisia's 10m Air Pistol Shooter Olfa bin Ahmad Sherni scored 238 points and won the women's gold medal leaving Bulgaria's Maria Grozdeva in second place with her score of 236.1 points as Bahrain's Mooza Ali was satisfied with third place as she scored 213.0 points. Competitions will continue today with the 10m air rifle for men, at 9:00am, and the finals will be played at 11:30, that in addition to men's and women's skeet finals.

Olfa Sherni said she expected to win gold despite the strong field of the 10m air pistol competition, in the presence of the World Champion Bulgaria's Maria Grozdeva, and the other shooters. She said her confidence in winning gold was due to the hard work she did in preparation for this tournament which she is keen on participating in this tournament each year.

Olfa, who is already qualified for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo said her participation in HH the Amir 7th Grand Prix, the next World Championship in Bulgaria, and the Mediterranean Championships are stages of preparation for the next Olympics and look forward to win a medal there.

Meanwhile, Moza Ali who won third place for Bahrain said, her results were not as good as she wanted, and that her mistakes in some shots affected the final result.

She said she needed some time to get into the competition mood, and was able to win the bronze medal. She said competition was tough and each shooter was able to be on top. She added that winning the bronze medal is an achievement for Bahrain's shooting in general, and lauded her Uzbek coach who improved her level significantly.

Meanwhile, World Champion Maria Grozdova said she was not prepared well for the tournament, as she began training 10 days earlier which was not enough for restoring her level, but was satisfied with the silver medal. She said she is proud to participate in HH the Amir tournament for the second time, and finds the atmosphere very ideal.

By Abdellatif Sharaa