Shooting Sport

The inception of this sport dates back to mid 19th century, where combat marksmanship was the main focus till it seeped into civilian marksmanship programs later. Pierre de Coubertin, also known as the father of modern Olympics, was an avid shooter and French Champion in pistol. The first edition of Olympics 1896, saw the inclusion of 5 Shooting events and was fiercely competed. Since then shooting sport has gained immense popularity both in a recreational and competitive format. In India it started off with the British settlement, who were keen shooters. After independence notable parliamentarian G V Mavalankar, was one of the pioneers of Indian shooting. Shooting sport since then has transformed a lot to graduate to the modern and highly technical shooting sport. In India the sport is governed by National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) , Asian Shooting Confederation (ASC) and International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) being their Asian & World body. Shooting sport features somewhere at the top of the ‘Priority list’ of Ministry of Sports, Govt of India. Many Govt. PSUs and Private Houses recognize shooting sport for their recruitment and sponsor program. It goes without saying that in terms of International success, Shooting Sport is arguably the best bet for India since long. Be it the only Individual Olympic medal to countless

C’wealth & Asian Games medals, from World Ranking 1 athletes to World Records, you name it and the Indian Shooting has it all. 2012 London Olympics has been the most successful outing for the Shooting Team where they won 2 medals with Gagan Narang & Vijay Kumar. Joydeep Karmakar came agonizingly close to winning a medal in the final but had to settle for the 4th place. Right now Shooting National Championships witness a record 6000-7000 entries in various events including Para-Shooting categories for differently-abled shooters. Currently, Indian Shooting is RANKED WORLD NUMBER ONE.  The beauty of this unique sport is its wide spectrum of participants. Be it a 10year old boy/girl to Olympic Champion at 72 years! ( Yes, you heard it right). Shooter Oscar Swahn of Sweden still has the record. You may be very lean, may have some extra pounds, or simply not the athletic type, but there is always a place for you in the competitive shooting arena! Wearing specs? No problem at all! Arguably the most accepting and no-restriction tag goes with this Universal Sport of accuracy and concentration. So if you have a target in life, or want a superb focusing ability, this is your sport where the exercise of mind rules the game…to make you the most accurate person around! A SHOOTER.