Shooting events back on fire after two years

The National Shooting Sport Federation of Sri Lanka (NSSF) will end its competition drought of almost two years with at least four competitions running towards the end of the year. Three of them will be competitions that are held annually at national level while the return of events will be with the Athugala Youth and Junior Air Gun Championship, which will be conducted under the supervision of NSSF.

The other three competitions in line are the NSSF Trap Nationals, the NSSF Skeet Nationals and the inaugural NSSF Open Air Gun Championship, the country's first-ever such competition to be conducted with electronic targets.

The first of the events, conducted by the Athugala Shooting Sports Club, will be another first of its kind, being the inaugural competition dedicated to Youth and Junior shooters of the country. This will be held from October 22 to 26 at the Athugala Air Gun Range in Uhumeeya, Kurunegala.

"Athletes have been starving for competitions, and to welcome the return of events is this fitting competition for Youth and Junior, which will also be served as a platform to update the national pools, based on points earned by the shooters. This is the very first time this club from North Western province is conducting an event of this nature, and they should be applauded for the efforts," stated Pradeep Edirisinghe, the General Secretary of NSSF.

The age groups will be for shooters under 18 years, who falls into the Youth category and those who are under 21 years will come under the Junior category. Event segments will include Air Rifle and Air Pistol for male and female under both Youth and Junior. The top six shooters of each of the four categories will be considered for national Youth and Junior pools provided they achieve the NSSF minimum qualifying standards, stipulated by the organisers.

"The competition will be conducted according to current ISSF rules and regulations. All competitors, coaches, guardians, parents, and those accompanying competitors must strictly follow the safety guidelines and precautions against COVID19, as instructed by the health authorities," a statement issued by the organisers, that include H.B.M. Dharmasena Herath and Dr. Ganganath Herath, the President and Secretary of Athugala SSC, said.

Following this event, the NSSF Trap Nationals 2021 has been scheduled followed by the NSSF Skeet Nationals 2021, two of the most important shotgun events at national level. The NSSF Trap Nationals will be held from November 4 to 7 while the NSSF Skeet Nationals is scheduled to be held from November 19 to 21. Both competitions will be held at the Clay Target Shooting Club of Colombo range based in Payagala, south of Colombo.

In between these two competitions NSSF will remain busy with its inaugural Open Air Gun Championship, Sri Lanka's first ever contest conducted with electronic targets. The event will be held from November 10 to 14 at the NSSF Electronic Target Range in Kohuwala, inaugurated by the tireless efforts of President, Shirantha Peries and his dedicated team at NSSF.

"We are excited to have this competition going, as well as the shooters who will be participating. We have released the NSSF minimum qualifying standards of all categories to our affiliations on how they can enter their shooters to this competition. This event will also be an outing for shooters to reach or better their standards and enter the national pools," explained Edirisinghe, the Secretary of NSSF.

The five-day competition will give Sri Lanka's top Air Rifle and Air Pistol shooters the opportunity to showpiece their skills in the 10m events conducted only in Open Men and Open Women categories. NSSF will also meet all required international standards recommended and followed by the ISSF, the global governing body for shooting sport. By adhering to the global standards, NSSF intends to add quality among local competitors, who are aiming at winning international medals at forthcoming events, such as the Asian Games.