NEW DELHI: London Olympics bronze-medalist shooter and a three-time Dakar Rally champion Nasser Al-Attiyah from Qatar on Wednesday praised India for successfully conducting the ongoing ISSF World Cup despite the raging COVID-19 pandemic.
Al Attiyah won the individual skeet bronze here on Sunday before combining with teammates Rashid Hamad and Ali Ahmed al-Ishaq to claim the silver in men’s skeet team competition at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range here.

The Qatar team finished runners up after losing 2-6 to the Indian team of Gurjoat Khangura, Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Angad Vir Singh Bajwa on Monday.

“The New Delhi Championship is the last qualifying tournament for the Tokyo Olympics, to be held in August this year,” The 50-year-old Al Attiyah, who has competed in six Games so far, said in a release.

He also praised “the efforts of the Indian Olympic Committee and the Indian government in organizing and making this tournament successful despite the circumstances of the global epidemic.”
Al-Attiyah, who won the bronze medal in the men’s skeet event at the 2012 Olympics, indicated that the Qatari team is the only Arab team that won medals at the ongoing World Cup.
The Doha-born athlete, who also won the Dakar Rally in 2011, 2015 and 2019, said that “the Qatari shooting team will continue its preparations and training for the Tokyo Olympics.”
In honour of the two medals that the Qatari team won, the Qatari ambassador to India, Muhammad Al-Khater Abu Khater, held a dinner banquet at his residence here attended by a number of Arab diplomats.
In his speech, Muhammad Al-Khater Abu Khater praised the Qatari victory, noting the great development in the Qatari sports sectors and the successful and honorable participation in regional and international championships.