Shooter Hamed set for second Olympics

Tokyo: Oman’s experienced shooter Hamed al Khatri is gearing up for the second consecutive Olympics in the 50 m rifle 3 positions competitions which are scheduled on Monday at Asaka Shotting Range of Tokyo Games.

The 36-year-old Omani did the Sultanate proud last year when he became the champion of the Arab Shooting Championship in Egypt in January 2020. He will compete with 38 top shooters from different part of the world. The competition qualification will start at 6:30 am (Oman time) and eight shooters will advance to the finals which will begin at 11:50 am (Oman time).

All the shooters will get 120 shot and distributed into 40 shots each for kneeling, prone and standing within a duration of one hour and 45 minutes. The existing record of al Khatri is 1,176 points and he is holding the Arab record.

TRAINING PROGRAMME

Sultan al Rushaidi, head coach of Oman shooting team, said the preparatory programme for Hamed began since few weeks ago. “After obtaining the Olympic invitation card for the Sultanate’s shooter, we had started a continuous daily training at International Shooting Range in Ghala. We focused in different mental and physical training areas,” he added.

The experienced coach affirmed that Olympic Games differ from any other regional and international events and championships. “The competition in any discipline in Olympics is tough as many of the world ranking champions will take part. However, Hamed al Khatri is classified as one of the top domestic, GCC and Arab shooters. He has accumulated technical experience from the previous national, GCC, Arab, Asian and Olympics participation. Also, we hope the weather condition will be suitable for the shooters to perform well in the competitions. Wind, clouds and fog will not ease the assignment for the shooters to focus on the target goal. Our target is to break new record and show top performance that reflect development of Oman’s shooting,” the Oman coach ended.

LESSONS TO LEARN

Oman’s talented swimmer, Issa al Adawi, ended his debut in the 32nd Summer Olympic Games – 2020 Tokyo with sixth place clocking 51.81s in the preliminary heat action of Men’s 100m freestyle on Tuesday at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.

The national swimmer was assigned in heat three. After completion of the nine heats, Adawi was placed 53rd among the 70 competitors. The fastest qualifier among 16 swimmers advanced to the semifinals was the Italy's Thomas Ceccon who registered a time of 47.71s. The cutoff of the final qualifier was 48.44s clocked by Great Britain's Jacob Whittle.

Commenting after his event, Issa al Adawi said: ”My target was to register my personal best and focus was to finish within mid of 50s. However, small technical details during the swimming competition may change a lot in the final timing. I have learned many lessons from this debut in Olympics and working hard to address the weak areas is the main focus now. I can break my best personal (51.69s) in the forthcoming championships and events including the Open swimming championship for Universities in October,” he added.

Oman head coach Aiman al Kulaibi said Issa has good technical skills and needs more experience besides taking part in major championships and attending top events.

“This Olympic participation is a good start for Issa. Strengthening some technical aspects and overcoming negative areas are two top points to consider in the coming period. Continuity of Issa’s preparatory programme in Chukyou University will assist him to develop more and we hope to accomplish the desired outcomes from the long preparatory camp in Japan,” he said.

OMANI SWIM REFEREE

Abdulmoneim al Alawi, Fina open water referee, was assigned to officiate the open water swimming competitions (swimming marathon) at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He is the first Arab and Asian chief referee to manage the competition at Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Commenting on his selection for the second successive time after debut in 2016 Rio Olympics, Al Alawi said: "I had officiated in Rio Olympics as assistant chief referee. For Tokyo 2020 Olympics, I have been selected as chief referee for the open water swimming competitions which will start on August 4 and 5."

"I am very proud of this Olympic participation. Assigning an Omani referee to run these competitions is a significant indicator and evidence of the success of the Omani referees. I have started officiating swimming events since 1986 and selected as umpire for more than 150 international, regional, Gulf and Arab championships and events. I obtained the international referee badge in 1995,” he concluded.