The annual national senior and junior rifle shooting championships will take place early in 2009 and will serve as preparation for the local shooters who will be defending the Caribbean crown they won in Jamaica earlier this year.
This disclosure was made by fullbore captain Mahendra Persaud in an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport.
The local championships are normally held at this time of the year but according to Persaud, at a recent meeting of the fullbore section of the Guyana National Rifle Association (GNRA), it was decided to shift the date for the event to January in an effort to fully prepare the local team for the Caribbean championship slated for neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago at the end of April.
Persaud disclosed that over the years, the local competition was usually held in October and November and then there was a break before training resumed in the new year.
He said this time the championships will be held from the second weekend in January and then training will commence for the regional championships immediately afterwards.
In preparation for the regional tournament there will be record shoots, competitive shoots and team competitions.
Ransford Goodluck is the reigning national senior champion, while Major Terry Stuart is the current holder of the junior title.
This year’s programme was affected by the lack of ammunition but Persaud gave the assurance that everything was in place for a positive start in 2009.
In addition to the national championships, Persaud said that the Postal shooting competition would also resume.
The Postal shoots are contested by teams in the Caribbean who shoot in their respective countries. The scores are then sent to the West Indies Fullbore Council before a winner is declared.
Guyana are the current Caribbean Rifle Shooting champions following their success at this year’s regional tournament in Jamaica where they won both the long and short range titles beating Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Antigua/Barbuda and host Jamaica for the titles.
