XIIth African Shooting Championship succesfully conducted in Cairo (EGY)

The XIIth African Shooting Championships were successfully conducted in Cairo, Egypt on 29 November through 6 December.  Athletes from 16 African countries competed for African Championship titles and Olympic quota places in 15 Olympic events. 

The African Shooting Sports Federation and the Egyptian Shooting Federation – chaired by Mr. Ahmed Hazem Hosny - organized the Championship. Rifle and Pistol events were conducted at the historic Armed Forces Shooting Range located in the shadow of the iconic Giza Pyramids, on the lines that hosted the 1962 World Shooting Championship.  Shotgun events were conducted at the 6^th of October Shooting Range that previously hosted the 2001 World Championship. 

The Championship began with a spectacular opening ceremony on 29 November.  Speakers at the ceremony were Organizing Committee Chairman Ahmed Hazem Hosny, ISSF Vice President and Technical Delegate Gary Anderson and the Egyptian Minister of Youth and Sports, Khaled Mahmoud Abdel Aziz.  The ceremony featured a high-tech sound, light and graphic presentation, traditional dances, music provided by famous Egyptian singers, a full dinner for all delegates and youth-oriented dancing.

(Egyptian Minister of Youth and Sports, Khaled Mahmoud Abdel Aziz. Photo: Gary Anderson)


The Championship received strong support from the Egyptian government and Armed Forces.  Another government executive, the Minister of Investment, Ashraf Abdel Tawwab Salman, visited the 6^th of October Shotgun Range and fired a ceremonial “first shot” before the start of the first day of Shotgun competition.  Dr. Ashraf Sobhy, the Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports visited the Armed Forces Ranges and presented awards after the fourth day of competition.

Sixteen African nations participated in the Championship, which represented the last chance to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games for the shooters of Africa. 

The African Shooting Sports Federation under the leadership of its President Hazem Hosny is working very hard to promote the shooting sport on the continent, both to build active programs in more countries and to organize coach and judge training courses to develop leaders.  The fact that four of the 14 Olympic quota winners in the Championship were juniors, Afaf ELHODHOD (EGY), 19; Hadir MEKHIMAR (EGY). 18; Ahmed MOHAMED (EGY), 19 and Chafik BOUAOUD (ALG), 16, is evidence that the African Federation’s developmental efforts are succeeding.

Fourteen Olympic quotas were distributed during the competition.  Egyptian athletes won the most Olympic slots, 10, but athletes from Algeria, Namibia, Tunisia and Zimbabwe also secured a pass to Rio de Janeiro.  Athletes in the 15^th Olympic event, Skeet Women, faced very difficult conditions during the match, and no one obtained the Minimum Qualification Score set for the event, and so that quota could not be distributed. 

After 15 events, it was host nation Egypt that finished atop of the medal standings, winning the most African Championship medals, but athletes from 10 different African nations stepped onto Cairo’s podium, once again demonstrating shooting’s universality.

The next slots for the 2016 Olympic Games will be awarded at the Asian Olympic Qualifying Competition for Shooting to be held in New Delhi (IND) in January, and at the European Championship in 10m events which will take place in Gyor (HUN), next February.