The Guyana National Rifle Association’s (GNRA) 11-man team was expected to wing out for Barbados this morning with the obvious intention of retaining their long and short range titles when the West Indies Full-bore Championships shoots off on May 13.
National Full-bore captain Mahendra Persaud told Stabroek Sport yesterday that the team was prepared to defend both titles when the competition gets underway on Monday at the Paragon Ranges in Bridgetown.
“If they stick to the basics and remain on the same page they will be successful,” Persaud said of the local shooters.
He said that the shooters have had adequate training adding that team members were in good spirits and are prepared to defend both titles when the competition, which ends on May 19, gets underway.
The other competing countries are Jamaica, hosts Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda and Trinidad and Tobago.
The team’s preparation was enhanced by a Goodwill Series against a team from Great Britain at the Timehri Rifle ranges with locals Lennox Braithwaite, Ransford Goodluck and to a lesser extent Persaud acquitting themselves well.
In the individual competition Braithwaite placed third behind David Calvert and Thomas Rylands while Goodluck was the top local shooter in the team competition.
“We have been preparing for this campaign for about two months and we have a strong team with guys such as (Mahendra) Persaud, Ransford (Goodluck) and Paul (Slowe),” opined Braithwaite.
“We are especially happy that Leo (Ramalho) has made himself available for the tournament as he has proven his worth as a very good shooter and a reliable member of the team,” he added.
Braithwaite said that the team members will be going to Barbados to shoot for their country and not for personal glory as they see themselves as ambassadors for Guyana while veteran marksman Goodluck said: “I had good preparation heading into this tournament and I’m confident that we will put our best performances forward and have a successful campaign.”
A combined regional team will compete against teams from Britain, Canada and the United States in the Australia Cup International tournament which will be contested simultaneously with the West Indies Full-bore Championships.
Local top gunner Paul Slowe has been named captain of the West Indies team for the international tournament.
The Guyana team is:Mahendra Persaud (captain), Goodluck, Slowe, Braithwaite, Terrance Stuart, Dylan Fields, Sigmund Douglas, Charles Dean, Leo Ramalho, Peter Persaud and Dane Blair.
