AL AIN // One of the world's largest shooting ranges has opened its doors to the public. Built to Olympic specifications, the Palm Sports Resort shooting club is managed by the reigning UAE skeet, trap and double trap champion and former Arab, Asia and world champion, Saif Mane al Shamsi. Its staff include a former army general and special forces soldier. The club hopes to host future national and international competitions and inspire young men and women to become shooting champions.
"The range is open to the public now," said Mr al Shamsi, 42, who also designed the club. "The official opening will be in December once construction on other parts of the club is completed and we acquire more firearms." The club was the brainchild of Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa, the chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Finance. Construction began in 2007. It has 118 members but, according to Mr al Shamsi, that number will increase once the club officially opens and begins advertising.
"Shooting and hunting have been in our blood and have been a part of our culture for generations," he said. "I would venture to say that 80 per cent of Al Ain residents like shooting so I expect that the number of members will increase." Built with 40 indoor lanes for firing .22 calibre rifles, 30 indoor lanes for firing 9mm and .22 calibre handguns and 40 indoor lanes for firing air pistols and rifles, Mr al Shamsi says the club is the largest in the region.
It is also the most advanced, with electronic target sensors that instantly calculate scores, which are displayed on monitors for shooters and audience members to view. Outdoors there are four trap, four double trap and four skeet arenas. General Fathi Fawzi, 71, a former special forces soldier in the Egyptian army, trains people in trap and double trap - clay pigeon disciplines in which a shotgun is used to shatter a clay disc flung away from the shooter at high speed. He also trains people in skeet, in which clay discs are flung into the air from a variety of angles.
More than four decades ago, General Fawzi was the Egyptian skeet champion. He was awarded Egypt's first-class bravery medal for his actions in Egypt's 1973 war with Israel, and commanded the Egyptian army rangers and commandos for 28 years. After leaving the army, he opened the Shams Shooting Club in Cairo, which at the time was the largest in the Middle East. Under his guidance teams from the club made it to the world championships, coming second and third in 1989 and 1992.
Now he and Mr al Shamsi hope for similar success in Al Ain. "This club was not just built for the people of Al Ain, but for all in the UAE and the region to come learn, practise and compete," said Mr al Shamsi. "Our aim is to become the premiere shooting club not only in the region but throughout the Middle East. "One would be hard-pressed to find a facility of this size with the facilities we have anywhere else in the world."