Those who do well in the African Shooting Championship get to go to Beijing next year. Ghada Abdel-Kader reports The 8th African Shooting Championship ends today in the Military Shooting Club at the Pyramids. Marksmen have been competing in rifles, pistols and guns. Each team is comprised of six marksmen who compete in three rounds in each event. The competitors fire 25 shots in each round for 75 shots in three rounds. At the end, the highest six overall scores qualify for the final round during which each fires one bullet after which the winner is announced. Egypt has organised the event three times before. "But this year's event is the most important since it qualifies for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing," general manager of the Egyptian Shooting Federation (ESF) Abdel-Hamid Ghaleb said. Quota places are awarded to the country whose athletes win the gold medal. "This doesn't mean that the same athlete who won the gold will necessarily compete in the same event in the Olympics. The place is awarded to the county, not the athlete who earned it," Ghaleb said. Being an Olympic Games qualifying event, 12 countries are taking part, all looking for a berth in the most prestigious sporting event in the world. Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Senegal, Sudan, South Africa, Angola and hosts Egypt are in total being represented by 225 marksmen and women. In the women's air rifle, Egypt won the gold medal followed by Tunisia and Libya. The Egyptian team comprised Dina Hosni Abdel-Aziz, her sister Noha and Shaimaa Abdel-Latif. The individual event was won by South Africa's Tessa Clota. Egypt's Shaimaa Hashad won the silver while fellow countrywomen Dina Abdel-Aziz claimed the bronze. The Egyptian women attributed their success to the president of the federation Mounir Sabet and their coach Tamara. Dina Abdel-Aziz, 24, three years older than her sister Noha, are both making their second appearance at the African Championship, as is Shaimaa Abdel-Latif, 25. Dina and Shaimaa have taken part in several World Cups in India, Italy and Greece and in the World Championships in Finland and Croatia. The 21-year-old Noha Abdel-Aziz was glad to add this year's achievement to her African junior title she won last year. The Egyptian trio hope they can go one better and win an Olympic medal but admitted that the sport needs much concentration. In the women's trap individual event, Diane Swanton from South Africa won first place. Swanton comes from a famous family in the sport, including her brother Byran, runner-up in the world double trap championship. Gabi Ahrens from Namibia claimed second place and Moroccan Jasmine Mesfioui took third. In the men's rifles individual event, the Egyptians dominated as Mohamed Ismail claimed the gold, Peter Selim the silver and Mohamed Sabri the bronze. The trio also gave Egypt the gold medal in the team event. South Africa and Libya came in second and third. Mohamed Ismail, a major in the Egyptian Army, has been African champion for over 12 years. "I've been winning ever since my first appearance," Ismail said. "I attribute my success to my parents who encouraged me since I was very young. I can still remember when I arrived in Cairo from Upper Egypt and held the rifle for the first time at the age of seven to hunt birds. From there it started and here I am," Ismail said. Ismail says the sport has taught him how to concentrate, patience, discipline and commitment. In Beijing 2008, he will be making his third appearance at an Olympic Games, having participated in Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004. "This time, I'm hoping for a medal." Peter Selim is a member of the National Sports Council's Olympic champion project which prepares Olympic champions for the future. The 20-year-old Selim is making his first appearance at the African championship but has been the Arab juniors champion three times, an Egyptian record. The third member of the team, Mohamed Sabri, 28, believes practicing shooting has helped him join the army since it is one of the major skills needed among soldiers and officers. The ESF has organised seven of the Shot Gun World Cup in addition to the World Championship in 2001. According to Ghaleb, the sport is not very popular in Egypt because it is expensive. "We are a limited community with only 20 clubs registered as members in the federation. We need shooting arenas, technical equipment, weapons and ammunition," Ghaleb said.
