Obaid Bin Dawi leads Emirati shooters at Nad Al Sheba

Miles of US wins $140,000 first prize, but inaugural tournament a hit with competitors, many of who have registered for 2015 event.

Gebben Miles, centre, won the title ahead of Anthony Matarese, right, and Jose Manuel Rodriguez. Courtesy Nad Al Sheba Sporting Clays Championship
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DUBAI // Obaid bin Dawi led the UAE contingent with a runner-up finish among Arab competitors at the inaugural Nad Al Sheba Sporting Clays Championship on Wednesday.

Bin Dawi’s score of 139 was two behind that of the winner Abdullah Al Rashidi of Kuwait. In a bid to encourage shooters from the region, organisers set aside a purse of US$135,000 (Dh496,000) for Arab shooters from the total prize pool of $735,000.

Kuwait’s Fahad Al Dhehani, a two-time Olympic bronze medallist, was third. The UAE shooters Daher El Eriani and Khalid Al Kaabi finished in the top 10.

Gebben Miles of the United States won the six-man men’s final round with a score of 178 points, overcoming a three-point penultimate-day lead held by compatriot Anthony Matarese.

Matarese finished second, after winning a sudden-death shoot-out over Jose Manuel Rodriguez of Spain, who was third. Miles, a native of Tucson, Arizona, was the 2012 sporting clays world champion and the 2009 US champion.

He won $140,000, Matarese $65,000 and Rodriguez $40,000.

Beatriz Cuenca Laparra of Spain was the top women’s shooter, winning by four points over Desirae Edmunds of the US and Martina Maruzzo of Italy. They won $35,000, $20,000 and $15,000, respectively.

Cash prizes were given down to 50th place for the men, and 20th for the women.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Hasher, the UAE’s Olympic gold-medal winner in double trap at the 2004 Athens Games, was chairman of the organising committee for the event, meant to encourage participation among shooters in the region.

He expressed satisfaction at the number of competitors, nearly 1,000, believed to be the most heavily attended competition in the history of the sport.

“The shooters have already started registering for next year, and this shows how much esteem they hold this competition,” Sheikh Ahmed said.

“Definitely, the plan will be to do much better the next year.”

Earlier in the competition, the Canadian shooter Paolo Periti was among those enthusiastic about the event. “I’m totally blown away,” he said. “When I get back home I’ll be spreading the word, tell everybody: ‘Start planning right now’.”

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