By Bader Al-Sulaihem
GRANADA, Spain, Sept 11 (KUNA) -- After dedicating their silver World Championship medal to UN-honoured 'humanitarian leader' His Highness the Amir, Kuwait's shooting squad spoke of their pride to have witnessed the raising of their nation's flag at the podium.
The Kuwaiti marksmen, including two-time Olympic medalist Fehaid Al-Deehani, Abdulrahman Al-Faihan and Talal Al-Rashidi, took the silver medal in the trap teams' event on Wednesday, only one point less than Italy and two more than the Czech Republic.
"This is the least we can give our dear nation, Kuwait, and His Highness the Amir (Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah) during these festive times marking the designation of His Highness a humanitarian leader by the United Nations," said Fehaid Al-Deehani.
"We were on the verge of snatching gold. We only missed one shot," he said referring to the three-day event which saw the squad lose out on the top spot by a one-point deficit.
The renowned shooter, who won a trap individuals' bronze medals at the Sydney 2000 Olympics and a double trap individual's bronze at the London 2012 Olympics for Kuwait in addition to several international accolades, was unlucky to have missed out on the individuals trap finals.
Weather conditions which were cloudy at the time had impaired his vision, he told KUNA, thus leading to him failing to progress from the qualifiers by only one point.
Talal Al-Rashidi said that the medal adds further to Kuwait's accomplishments in the illustrious global tournament, the young shooter having clinched the youth trap individuals gold for his nation at the previous Belgrade 2011 tournament.
He praised the team's efforts, which he said were very good compared to former participations, ruing the luck of his veteran teammate, Al-Deehani, who failed to make the trap event finals despite making 123 shots out of 125.
He also said he was happy with the successful training camp regimen and carefully thought-out strategy put place by the Kuwait Shooting Club board ahead of the global competition.
Meanwhile, Abdulrahman Al-Faihan said the medal was a result of the collective efforts of the marksmen and backroom staff.
"The result leaves Kuwait's imprint on this crucial competition, and pushes us to continue pushing harder," he said.
"We have a responsibility to double our efforts and focus throughout upcoming international and continental competitions, to represent Kuwait honourably and to raise our nation's flag at these podiums," he underlined. (end) bsu.sd