File photo: Egypt s Abdelkhalek Elbanna sits on his boat after the Men s Single Sculls Quarterfinal rowing competition at the Lagoa stadium during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on August 9, 2016. (AFP)
Egyptian skeet shooter Azmy Mehelba will start his mission in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games when he takes part in the qualifying round of men’s skeet shooting early on Sunday. He is bidding to snatch a medal thanks to his superb performance during the warm-up for the tournament.
The 30-year-old Mehelba is Egypt's hottest prospect for a medal after he recently defeated Gabriele Rossetti of Italy, who won the 2016 Olympic gold medal, and 2008 and 2012 gold medalist Vincent Hancock of the US.
"I have a big opportunity to win an Olympic medal. I'm now on par with the world champions. I already competed against the world's finest at the World Championships and World Cups. I beat them several times," he told Ahram Online.
Mehelba booked his place in Tokyo through the ISSF World Cup in Lathi, Finland in August 2019 as he claimed the bronze medal after scoring 121 points out of 125 in the men's skeet event.
Mehelba kicks off his mission at 02:30 Cairo time (00:30 GMT).
Veteran shooter Mostafa Hamdy will also participate in the same event.
In football, Egypt’s U23 national team are scheduled to face Argentina in their second Group C match of the Olympic Games, also on Sunday. The Pharaohs need to sharpen their attack game to keep their hopes of reaching the quarterfinals alive.
Egypt's Olympic football team opened their Olympic campaign with a goalless draw with heavyweights Spain, while Argentina slumped to a shock 2-0 loss to Australia.
The match starts at 09:30 Cairo time (07:30 GMT).
Egyptian rower Abdel-Khalek El-Banna will compete in the quarterfinals of men's rowing single sculls at 04:30 Cairo time (02:30) in a bid to secure a medal for his country.
The 33-year-old, El-Banna booked his place in the event after finishing third in his heat with a time of 7:03.44 last Thursday.
El-Banna completed the first 500 metre in 1:43.11, the 1000 m in 3:31.59, the 1500 m in 5:18.07 and finally the 2000 m contest in 7:03.44, behind German leader Oliver Zeidler who timed 7:00.40m.
Egyptian Judoka Mohamed Abdelmawgoud will face Daniel Cargnin of Brazil in elimination round 32 of Men -66 kg at 04:30 Cairo time (02:30 GMT).
In fencing, Egyptian Mohamed El-Sayed will play at 06:30 Cairo time (04:30 GMT).
Mohamed El-Sayed will face Yannick Borel of France in the Epee men’s individual round 32 at 06:10 Cairo time (04:10 GMT).
Tennis player Mohamed Safwat will face Daniel Galan of Colombia in the first round at 04:00 Cairo time (02:00 GMT)
Table tennis player Egyptian Dina Meshref will play against Natalia Partyka of Poland at 07:30 Cairo time (05:30 GMT).
In sailing, Aly Badawy and Kholoud Mansy will start their missions at 06:30 and 7:30 Cairo time respectively.
And finally Zeina Sharaf and Mandy Mohamed will compete in the Gymnastic Artistic events at 13:20 Cairo time (11:20 GMT).
Check Team Egypt squad
Check Team Egypt's schedule and results
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