KUWAIT CITY, July 29:Some of Kuwait’s top shooting professionals were seen in action this week at the annual Al-Kandari 5th Ramadan Shooting Competition which was held over three days at the Mayadeen Shooting Range in Subhan. The event, which was being sponsored by Nay Shan – one stop shop for gear equipment, gun accessories and uniforms – saw a lot of close competition in each category before the outcome could be decided.

At the end of the three days, when all the scores had been totaled, the Military (Sniper) category had been won by Ali Abdullah Al Kandari while Saud Abdulaziz Al Jaber took the top spot in the Military (9mm) section, Shehab Waleed Al Shehab found the going to his liking in the Men’s (Sniper) to clinch the crown, Waleed Al Mutawah found that regular weekly practice at Mayadeen Shooting Range paid dividends to capture the Men’s (9mm) title, Maya Ali Bin Hussein was the best in the Female (Sniper) category, Dalah Khalid Alghanim showed her skills in the Female (9mm) section to finish first and in the Junior (Air Pistol) category it was Abdulrahman Ibrahim who clinched the top honors.
The competition – which is gaining in popularity every year – saw over 500 contenders vying for 7 titles – men, women and children. This annual competition is organized by the Al-Kandaris with the event running for three days, with support coming from their family, friends, Range Officers and Gen Ahmad Al Saleem—General Manager of the Mayadeen Shooting Range Complex.

There were a total of 7 categories in this competition and at the end of competition all the winners were recognized for their efforts with some beautiful trophies.
For the Men’s event, the organizers had decided to separate the Professional and Non-Professional Class to put all the competitors on an equal footing while in Ladies class both the Professional and Non-Professional were clustered.
Although the competition ran for 3 days, the shooting sessions were only held in the evenings 2000 to 2300 hours. In view of the limited time available and the large number of participants, the competitors were only to take part once in each event and no second attempt was allowed by the organizers.
The result was that all the competitors – knowing that they would not get an opportunity to better their scores – were really focused and their was tension in the air as the different guns blazed away as all the gunmen and gunwomen tried to show their class.

Military Men (9mm)
In this category shooting was done from 10 meters on stationary targets with the competitors having to fire 15 shots in 3 minutes but only the 10 best shoots were counted towards the competition.
In this category, the competition was really close but in the end Saud Abdulaziz Al Jaber prevailed over all the shooters to take the top spot with Mohammed Atel Abdulwaisan showing his skills to take second place while also displayed a very steady arm to take third place.

Military Men (5.56 Sniper Hornet)
This was a professional class for the military men and saw the shooting being done from 50 meters on two stationary targets with a total of 10 bullets being used.
The shoot involved 5 shots being fired on each target within 4 minutes, but if the target contained more than 5 shots it was not to be counted.
Ali Abdullah Al Kandari proved that there was no one more accurate than him in this category by taking the top spot while Tareq Saud Al Qidiby was also very accurate to take second place with Fahed Saud Al Anezi clinching third place.

Men (9mm)
The Men’s 9mm Non-Professional Class involved the competitors shooting from 10 meters at a stationary target but they had to fire 15 shots in 4 minutes with the 10 best shots being counted towards the competition .
This group saw some of the shooters who regularly participate in the weekly Filipino Action Shooting Team (FAST) fun shoots and it seemed their regular participation in the FAST events paid dividends as Waleed Al Mutawah – who dominated the FAST events in the early part of the year before it was recognized that he was too good for the others and shifted to the professional class – clinched the crown to add to all the titles he has already collected this year.
Nawaf Fahed Al Tubaikh was also at his best to take the second spot while Mohammed Al Sadoon – another FAST events regular – was again among the leaders when he took the third place.

Men (Sniper 22 Hornet)
This category saw the shooting being done from 50 meters at two stationary targets with a total of 10 bullets being used .The competitors had to fire 5 shots at each target in 5 minutes, but if either of the targets contained more than 5 shots it was not to be counted .
When the smoke had cleared and the scores tallied, Shehab Waleed Al Shehab was seen to have captured the top spot while Raed Ahmed Iraja (from Syria) was not very far behind in second place followed by Ahmed Faisal Al Kandari in third place.

Women (9mm)
In this section the women were seen shooting from 10 meters on stationary targets and they were required to fire 15 shots in 4 minutes with the 10 best shoots to be selected and counted towards the competition.
Dalah Khalid Alghanim proved that she was the best as she displayed a very steady arm to take the title while Adari Mohammed Asafi finished in second place and Zeinab Ali Al Ibrahim took the third spot.

Women (Sniper 22 Hornet)
The competitors were involved in engaging targets from at 50 meters. Two stationary targets were used in this section with the competitors having to fire 10 bullets, 5 shots on each target in 5 minutes, but if either target contained more than 5 shots it was not to be counted.
Mayar Ali Bin Hussein proved that there was no one better than her in this category by taking the top spot and she was followed closely by the ever-improving Sarah Butler, another FAST competition regular who decided to test her skills against some of the best in the country. Butler’s decision to compete paid dividends with an excellent place on the leaders board.
Following on Butler’s heels was Gena Mohammed Heida who was also among the trophies when she finished in third place.

The Junior (Air Pistol)
The juniors were not to be left behind and they showed a lot of skills in the competition which saw them shooting from 10 meters at a stationary target. They were required to fire 15 shots in 5 minutes with the 10 best shots being counted towards the competition.
Abdulrahman Ibrahim took the top honors in this event by finishing first while Hasser Salem Al Rashidi was also very good to take second place. Dalal Abdullah Al Anezi finished in third place.
Awarding ceremony
The simple but impressive was also hald at the Mayadeen Shooting Range Complex and started with the singing of the Kuwait National Anthem, followed by a prayer.
The was graced by Dr. Helal Al Sayer, Dr. Waleed Al Kandari, Engineer Abdullah Al Kandari, Attorney Adel Abdulhadi, Engineer Yasser Al Kandari, Dr. Hamed Al Muttar, Shaikh Sabah Al Sabah and Jasim Al Kandari.

Winners
Military (Sniper)
1st Ali Abdullah Al Kandari
2nd Tareq Saud Al Qidiby
3rd Fahed Saud Al Anezi
Military (9mm)
1st Saud Abdulaziz Al jaber
2nd Mohammed Atel Abdulwaisan
3rd Saed Almiri
Men’s (Sniper)
1st Shehab Waleed Al Shehab
2nd Raed Ahmed Iraja (from Syria)
3rd Ahmed Faisal Al Kandari
Men’s (9mm)
1st Waleed Al Mutawah
2nd Nawaf Fahed Al Tubaikh
3rd Mohammed Al Sadoon
Female (Sniper)
1st Mayar Ali Bin Hussein
2nd Sarah Butler
3rd Gena Mohammed Heida
Female (9mm)
1st Dalah Khalid Alghanim
2nd Adari Mohammed Asafi
3rd Zeinab Ali Al Ibrahim
Junior (Air Pistol)
1st Abdulrahman Ibrahim
2nd Nasser Salem Al Rashidi
3rd Dalal Abdullah Al Anezi