Ransford Goodluck and Mahendra Persaud, top rifle shooters in Guyana and the Caribbean, will be looking to be third time lucky when they compete in the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in India.
With all the recent hype over the Guyana Rugby Sevens team participating in the Games, the other sports disciplines to represent Guyana have been overlooked. However, the two experienced shooters have been training hard at the Timehri Rifle ranges ahead of the prestigious games and are hoping to be bang on target this time round.
Goodluck, the reigning Caribbean individual shooting champion and Persaud a previous regional “top gun” have been in excellent form this season and will be on the medal hunt in New Delhi next month.
Persaud who is also the national full-bore captain disclosed that he and Goodluck would be competing in the pairs and individual shooting championships at the games from October 9-13.
The two shooters are Commonwealth Games veterans having participated in England in 2002 and Australia in 2006.
Goodluck also shot at the 1994 and 1998 Games in Vancouver and Malaysia respectively with Lennox Braithwaite as his partner.
“Our prospects are as good as any other shooter, but I believe we stand an excellent chance in the pairs’ competition because we are there with the rest of competitors,” Persaud said.
The two shooters who travelled to Bisley, the leading shooting club in the United Kingdom, in July as part of their preparation for the games, said that many of the shooters who were at Bisley are likely to be in action in India.
Former assistant commissioner of police Paul Slowe will accompany the riflemen as manager.
“We will be rounding off our preparation this weekend at Timehri. We have been receiving tremendous support from the other shooters,” Persaud said.
The Commonwealth Games shooting competition will be held over the 300, 500, 600, 900 and 1,000 yards ranges and for the first time electronic targets will be used.
Persaud leaves Guyana on September 24 via the USA while Goodluck and Slowe will travel through the United Kingdom three days later.
Shooters from Guyana have been regular participants at the Commonwealth Games dating back to the 1970s but they have so far failed to win a medal.