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SHOOTING CLUB (From 15:00 to 20:00)
Dubai Shooting 2007, billed as the richest shooting competition in the world, will take place from 5th to 7th February 2007 at the Jebel Ali International Shooting Club.
Held under the patronage of Sheikh Ahmed Mohammed Hasher Al Maktoum, Dubai Shooting 2007 promises to showcase the extraordinary talents of over 150 participants from around the world. With the total prize money amounting to AED 1,000,000, the event is bound to be exciting, especially for the talented local sportsmen who will have the opportunity to compete on an international scale.
Dubai Shooting 2007 is just the latest of many highlights in the Jebel Ali International Shooting Club's history. Testimony to the Club's excellence is the fact that it was also chosen as the official venue for Dubai Calibre 2005, the World Cup Shotgun Championships that were held in Dubai just over a year ago.
Since it opened in 1995, the Jebel Ali International Shooting Club has become a landmark in the Jebel Ali area and has been frequented by many famous shooters. HH Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum has trained at the club and Sheikh Ahmed Mohammed Hasher Al Maktoum spent several hours on the clay shooting range of the Jebel Ali International Shooting Club before winning the gold medal at the Athens Olympics in 2004.
'The Jebel Ali International Shooting Club has truly excellent facilities,' says Sheikh Ahmed Mohammed Hasher Al Maktoum. 'If it wasn't for this Club, Dubai wouldn't have been able to host such a world class shooting competition. The Club and its owners have played a significant part in supporting UAE nationals on various different platforms, myself included. At a stage when nobody was ready to invest in an amateur with no accomplishments, the Jebel Ali International Shooting Club saw my potential and supported me tremendously,' he continued.
Other visitors to the Jebel Ali International Shooting Club include George Digweed, one of the most accomplished shotgunners today who set a new world record in 1999, and Kuwaiti World Champion Abdullah Al Rashidi. The Club is the official training ground in Dubai for the UAE team and also for the Austrian Skeet and Trap shooting team.
The Jebel Ali International Shooting Club is located close to the Jebel Ali Free Zone on the approach to the 5-star Jebel Ali Golf Resort & Spa, one of Dubai's other legendary marvels. The first noticeable feature as you enter this Olympic-standard facility is the impressive fortress style architecture that overlooks the area. The club features an indoor and outdoor shooting academy, built to exacting international safety standards, and has long since contributed to make the exciting sport of recreational and competitive shooting easily accessible to all.
The five outdoor floodlit clay-shooting ranges are equipped to cater for all seven clay-shooting disciplines including Olympic Skeet and Trapshooting. Professional coaching, including all shooting equipment is offered at the Jebel Ali Shooting Academy for both individuals and groups. The instructors introduce aspiring shooters by covering the safety rules associated with this sport which has played an important part in the history of not only the UAE, but also Dubai and the area around Jebel Ali.
The Jebel Ali International Shooting Club has continued to develop as a sporting venue with the addition of the Centre of Excellence in 2005. Comprising a Sports Academy with floodlit training pitches and a state-of-the-art Leadership Centre with training and development facilities, this facility has brought famous football clubs like Bolton Wanderers, West Ham, Partizan Belgrade to Dubai's doorstep. The facility has also been home to a 4x4 off-road course designed by Daimler Chrysler that saw the new Jeep and Mercedes 4x4 put through their paces before being launched in the market. With its rich offering of activities for sports clubs, schools, youth clubs and corporate businesses from across the globe, the Jebel Ali International Shooting Club continues to promote Dubai on a global scale
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