DOHA (Qatar): Olympic ambitions of Peruvian shooter Mariana Quintanilla got a fresh lease of life in the Qatari capital recently when she competed at the Amir Cup Shooting Championships as a ‘special’ entrant.
Her Olympic goal has taken a new path in the 2022 FIFA World Cup host nation after honing her shooting skills over the last 14 years in South America.
Peru has never won a medal in shooting since their gold medal triumph at the 1948 London Olympics.
Mariana lived up to her potential by winning a medal at the Losail Shooting Range after she finished third behind Nasra Mohammed and Noura Al Mutawa in the 25m shotgun event.
She was thrilled to take the podium in the prize distribution ceremony, which was attended by Qatar Olympic Committee President Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani.
“I am thankful to Qatar Shooting and Archery Association officials who helped me to take part in the tournament. I came here without my shooting equipment but they went out of the way to provide necessary equipment,” Mariana told Khelupdates.com in an exclusive interview.
“It was a nice feeling to take part in the event and interact with several Qatari women shooters. They’re very friendly and cooperative.”
The Peruvian moved to Doha last month to be part of the FIFA 2022 World Cup organization set up as Language Services Manager for the football showpiece event.
“I am thankful to the national coach of Qatar who was kind enough to lend me a gun,” added Mariana, who took to shooting in 2006.
“The range is one of the best. I would rank it one of the top in the world. It is a fantastic feeling to shoot here, everything is top notch,” said Mariana, who is also the Peruvian shooting federation secretary general and a Board member on the Peruvian Olympic Committee.
From tennis to shooting
The former tennis player-turned-shooter has represented Peru at the Pan American Games.
“As a tennis player I always and till date admire the consistency of Roger Federer. It is fantastic the way he has played at a high level over the so many years. Consistency is so difficult to achieve. This is what I admire,” said the Lima native, who represented Paraguay in Fed Cup.
“I grew up in Paraguay and represented national team at the Fed Cup. I also played for the universities in the United States and Mexico until I shifted to shooting.”
Currently, Mariana is trying to pick up the Arabic language to be a part of Language Services Manager during the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
“I am learning Arabic and it was nice to put my language (Arabic) skills to test with some of the women shooters. I hope to be fluent in Arabic over a period of time leading to the 2022 World Cup” added the Peruvian, who was also a World Antidoping Agency-Athlete Committee member from 2015-2016.
