The UAE’s top shooters hailed Saif bin Futtais’ efforts after the Emirati claimed gold in the men’s skeet competition at the 2015 ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Cyprus, which secured the Emirates an Olympic quota spot at next year’s Rio Games.

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Bin Futtais, 41, edged Sweden’s Marcus Svensson 4-3 in a shoot-off after the two had tied 14-14 at the end of the gold medal match.

Bin Futtais said: “The highlight of the day is the Rio 2016 Olympic quota place. This is very important both for me and for my country. Then comes the World Cup gold.

“Everybody is working really hard to secure a qualification spot for Rio, and I have been training a lot to finish top of today’s podium. 

“I am not guaranteed a spot in the Olympic team, as we have a national selection, but at least we have a quota now.

“The competition has been tough. When I made it into the gold medal match, I was guaranteed a quota place.

“I have to admit that I have been a bit lucky in shoot-offs, but that’s part of the game.”

Sheikh Ahmed bin Hasher Al Maktoum, the UAE’s only Olympic gold medallist who is also in charge of the national shooting team, said: “This is the fruit of two years of very hard training from Saif.

“It’s time to forget about Cyprus and focus on Olympic preparation and getting Saif’s team-mates to join him in Rio – that’s our short-term goal.

“The long-term goal is to compete for gold at the Olympics – that’s the ultimate challenge.”