Two of Guyana top rifle shooters will leave these shores shortly for the United Kingdom to participate in the 139th Annual Imperial Shooting championships set for July 11th-25th at Bisley.
Reigning national senior champion Mahendra Persaud and Richard Fields, a former national and West Indies individual champ are expected to join over 1200 shooters from around the world in what is regarded as the most prestigious annual individual shooting championships organized by the National Rifle Association (NRA) of the United Kingdom.
Persaud, who is also the national full-bore captain, will wing out on Sunday while Fields is expected to depart on Tuesday.
The two shooters are no strangers to the United Kingdom since they have joined the pilgrimage on a regular basis to attend the shooting competition at Bisley, regarded as the Mecca of Rifle shooting.
They will however be looking to be among the top performers this time around.
Persaud told Stabroek Sport that his best year was in 2003 when he won a Gold Medal in the
Tucker Aggregate but he emphasized that the competition is extremely stiff.
According to Persaud at a previous event he had short a possible 50 points with 7 V-bulls but he only managed to secure 75th place.
“That’s how competitive it normally has been at Bisley and this year we are expecting top quality ammunition so there should be excellent scores,” he remarked.
According to the organizers the Imperial Meeting is the most prestigious of the competitions held by the NRA and the series of competitions includes events for Service rifle, Civilian Service Rifle, Cadets, Historic Arms, Schools, Gallery Rifle and Pistol, Match Rifle and Target Rifle. The meeting will open with the Service Rifle competitions where forces from around the world will compete for the Queen’s Medal.
On the final Saturday Target rifle competitors will also compete for the Queen’s Medal to determine who will be the top rifle shooter for 2009.
Both Persaud and Fields were on Guyana’s team that retained the West Indies Full-bore championships recently in Trinidad and Tobago.
Guyana riflemen are also expected to attend the Commonwealth Games in India next year in addition to defending the regional rifle shooting championships in Barbados and may also take part in a Goodwill series in the region’s newest shooting range in Antigua/Barbuda.
