Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum’s defence of his Olympic Double Trap shooting title is over after being edged out of a shoot-out by a single shot on Tuesday.
The UAE’s only gold medallist – who triumphed four years ago in Athens – scored 136 out of 150 clay pigeon targets during qualification to lie in equal sixth position – with only six allowed to go through to the final.
In the shoot-out with three other competitors – Roland Gerebics, of Hungary, William Chetcuti of Malta and Australia’s Russell Mark – he came second by just one shot to finish in seventh position, one off a final place. Russell Mark secured the final spot in the final which takes place later on Tuesday.
Al Maktoum’s main competition was expected to come from Great Britain’s Richard Faulds. Faulds won a gold medal in the event at Sydney 2000 and is currently number 1 in the world rankings.
But it was the American Walter Eller who led the way after the qualification session of three shoots, scoring an Olympic record 145, one more than Al Maktoum’s previous record set in Athens.
Al Maktoum won his country’s first Olympic medal in 2004 by setting the old Olympic record in the qualification round.
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