New Delhi, Dec 10 (IANS) All top shooters of the country will be battling it out in their respective participating disciplines in pistol, rifle and shotgun events in the 67th National Shooting Championship Competition (NSCC) for which a record 13,522 shooters have qualified. The event is set to get underway at the national capital’s Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range (DKSSR) on Wednesday, heralding the beginning of a brand-new season.

While the Shotgun (December 11 to January 19, 2025) and Pistol (December 13 to January 5, 2025) competitions will be held at the DKSSR, Bhopal’s M.P. State Shooting Academy ranges will hold the Rifle nationals from December 15-31.

The first day on Wednesday has official pre-event training for Skeet shooters belonging to Group 2 and Group 3 on schedule, with qualification rounds beginning on Thursday. Group 1 shooters take to the ranges from December 21. Both the defending champions Anant Jeet Singh Naruka in the men’s skeet and Ganemat Sekhon in the women’s skeet, will be there to defend their crowns.

A total of 837 shotgun shooters in the skeet, trap and double trap events will be competing across five classifications which include master, senior master and super master, besides the senior and junior classifications.

The rifle section has seen the maximum entries with 7013 participants across classifications while the pistol nationals will see 5672 competitors vying for the coveted national champion crown.

It will be a key event for all shooters as scores achieved here will be counted towards selecting the Indian team for the 2025 international season.

A total of 40 teams will be represented at the 67th Shooting Nationals including almost all states and union territories as well as those representing the armed forces of the country and public institutions like the ONGC and the Railways.

Sharing his thoughts ahead of the nationals, Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo, president of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), said, “We are very excited with the growing popularity of the sport in the country which has resulted in such a record participation in the nationals. Our consistent international success and particularly the performance of our shooters at the Paris Olympics earlier this year where we came back with a record three bronze medals, has certainly contributed to these numbers.”

Also enthused was K. Sultan Singh, Secretary General, NRAI, saying, “Our next Olympic champions and medallists or at least some of them will come from these nationals. Indian shooting now has an even bigger responsibility to deliver on the world stage and the enthusiasm and talent seen among the upcoming youngsters makes us believe that we will take the sport to even greater heights.”

Courtesy Media Group: IANS

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