The opening day of the event, the first official ISSF competition on the African continent in several years, focused on skeet qualification, with Batyrshina one of seven Russians competing in the nine-woman field.

She missed one target in the first and second rounds of qualification, before hitting all 25 targets in the third to end the day with a score of 73.

Natalia Vinogradova and Nadezda Konovalova completed an all-Russian top three on 71 and 70, respectively, with two further rounds planned tomorrow.

Spain’s Juan Jose Aramburu and Qatar’s Rashid Hamad led men’s qualification.

The pair could not be separated during the opening three rounds, with both hitting 24 targets in the opening two, before achieving a perfect score in the third to end on 73.

Spain’s Jose Mielgo Moneo lies third on 72.

He achieved a perfect score of 50 across the first two rounds, but missed three targets in the third.

Competition is set to continue tomorrow with latter stages of qualification and the finals.