Guyana will host a team of British Rifle shooters in April this year just days before the local team travels to Jamaica for the Caribbean Fullbore Championships.
Secretary of the Guyana National Rifle Association (GNRA) Ryan Sampson, in an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport, disclosed that the team from the London Middlesex Rifle Association of the United Kingdom, will be in Guyana from April 18 to 20 on the first leg of a Caribbean tour.
Sampson said the team would be captained by Richard Winney and would include several experienced shooters.
The Englishmen will also join regional shooters at the Caribbean championships set for April 28 to May 4 in Jamaica.
Guyana will be defending the short range title and will be looking to recapture the long range title they lost to Trinidad and Tobago at last year’s tournament staged here at the Timehri rifle ranges.
Guyana had won the short range title and looked set to win the long range crown, but they were edged out by one point by the Trinidadians in a fiercely fought contest.
Sampson said that 2008 would be another busy year for local shooters and training for the regional events would get underway shortly.
With several outstanding performances at the National Senior Rifle championships held two months ago, the local shooters are expected to stave off a strong challenge expected especially from the Trinidadians, Barbados and hosts Jamaica at the regional competition.
Sampson said that fullbore captain Mahendra Persaud and veteran shooter
Richard Fields were expected to travel to Bisley later this year for the annual championships, while the handgun section (smallbore) would be looking to make their mark in Caribbean tournaments.
According to Sampson, Murtland Smith competed in two major regional tournaments last year and performed creditably, adding that more handgun shooters were likely to compete in regional events this year.
Sampson said there would be a continuation of the Paintball shooting programme which was popular among children and was used as a fund-raising exercise for the GNRA.
Meanwhile, the GNRA’s Annual General Meeting will take place on January 16 at Bank of Guyana Roof Garden.
It is expected that the new Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Commodore Gary Best will be appointed president of the GNRA.
The GNRA is traditionally headed by senior military or para-military personnel.
The outgoing president is former Commissioner of Police Winston Felix.
The other members of the current executive are assistant commissioner of Police, Paul Slowe and Neville Denny as vice presidents, Sampson as secretary, Hemant Narine – treasurer, Lancelot Khan, assistant secretary/treasurer with Mahendra Persaud as fullbore captain and Dale Hing as smallbore captain.
