Qatari shooter Al Athba impressive on day one of trap qualifying

Qatar shooter Rashid Al Athba yesterday fired a round of 73 on the first day of the men's trap qualifying at the 2012 London Olympic Games. Battling a heavy downpour, Al Athba produced sharp shooting, missing just two shots from 75 to remain tied on points (73) with six others at the Royal Artillery Barracks that later welcomed bright sunshine. Michael Diamond of Australia carded a clean sheet, firing his way to 75 (three rounds of 25 shots each) to claim the top slot. Germany's Karsten Bindrich led the way for five shooters with an identical score of 74. Italy's Massimo Fabrizi ended the day with 74 as did Croatia's Anton Glasnovic, Kuwait's Fehaid Aldeehani and Croatia's Giovanni Cernogroz. France's Stephane Clamens, Russia's Maxim Kosarev and Czech Republic duo Jiri Liptak and David Kostelecky ended the day with 73 points each. Kostelecky said: "I was lucky today as I only had 10 targets in the rain. The first and third rounds were beautiful. I have 73 points and I feel lucky. Tomorrow (Monday) is crucial, as anything can happen in the 50 targets." On his recent arrival for London 2012, Kostelecky said: "I came here late because I did the same thing at Beijing 2008. It's better for us to come late as it is not good to be here long. It makes you a little bit nervous. It's no problem as it takes only two hours (to get to London) from my home town." Al Athba, 31, fired rounds of 24, 25 and 24. The Qatari last week failed to qualify for the final round of the men's double trap competition. Al Athba, trying to become the second shooter to win a medal after compatriot Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah's heroics last Tuesday, will do battle with 34 shooters today (Monday). Andrei Kavalenka of Belarus fired rounds of 24, 16, 19, for a the day's poorest tally of 59. Kavalenka is at the bottom of the table. Giovanni Pellielo of Italy, who finished in 17th spot with a tally of 72, said: "I feel very good and confident. I scored a perfect 25 in the second round in the rain. I hope it rains tomorrow because I feel very confident shooting in the rain." The top six shooters will qualifying for the final session to be held today (Monday) but before that, the participants will fire another two rounds of 25 shots each. From - Qatar olympic committee