– Mahendra Persaud recounts his experience at Bisley and tells Stabroek Sport that foreign shooters are likely to participate in this year’s national c/ships
Several foreign shooters are likely to participate in the national rifle shooting championships later this year at the Timehri rifle ranges.
This disclosure was made by national full-bore captain Mahendra Persaud in an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport.
Persaud, who recently returned from the Imperial Shooting championships in Bisley, United Kingdom, disclosed that several Caribbean and British shooters have indicated their interest in traveling to Guyana for the national championships billed for November.
At least three Trinidadians have shown an interest and, according to Persaud, some of the marksmen are also fine-tuning their preparation for next year’s Commonwealth Games in India.
“Some of these regional shooters will be looking to secure the qualifying mark for the Commonwealth Games,” he declared.
There are 900 and 1000 yards ranges at Timehri, which will be critical to the regional shooters’ preparation, said Persaud.
He added that the Guyana National Rifle Association (GNRA) was in the process of buying quality ammunition which should be a key factor in sending out invitations to the foreign shooters.
This year’s West Indies Full-bore championships were marred by poor quality ammunition following host Trinidad and Tobago’s inability to source quality ammunition in time for the event.
Persaud, who made it to the Queen’s final at the Imperial Championships a few weeks ago, indicated that he would also like to travel to Trinidad for their national championships sometime in October.
According to the national captain, it was an honour for him to reach the Queen’s final from a field of over 1200 shooters but he stumbled at the final hurdle and finished 90th out of the final 100.
He said he was on track after the first shoot at 900 yards with 72 points out of a possible 75 but his nightmare started at the 1000 yards range where he shot a disappointing 64 despite improved weather conditions.
Persaud revealed that this year’s national championships will be held on three consecutive days unlike previous years.
However, he said the dates are still to be finalized.
“We are re-tooling, at least six of our shooters are buying new barrels to upgrade their rifles because 2010 will be a very busy year for us,” he disclosed.
Persaud said that one of the team’s missions will be to capture the regional title in Barbados a feat that has eluded them for years although they are on a high with three successive regional title triumphs.
“We have started our preparation in earnest for next year’s big shooting events like the Commonwealth Games and the regional championships,” the captain remarked.
He is also encouraging more local shooters to travel to Bisley, regarded as the Mecca of rifle shooting internationally since the exposure would help to improve their game.
He praised local sharp shooter Ransford Goodluck for providing him with technical advice via the internet while he was at Bisley.
“Goodluck is an excellent shooters who knows the conditions well and I would like to see him making the trip to Bisley next year,” said Persaud.
Both Persaud and Goodluck represented Gu-yana at the 2006 Common-wealth Games in Australia and are likely to be the leading candidates for selection to the games in India next year November.
