In the wake of the Guyana national rifle shooting team’s loss of the short range title at the recent West Indies Full-bore rifle shooting championships in Barbados national Full-bore Captain Mahendra Persaud said the Guyana National Rifle Association (GNRA) is looking to place more emphasis on blooding new shooters to aid in the development of the sport.
Persaud and the other local shooters returned last week from Barbados following their quest to defend the long and short Range titles at the West Indies Full-bore Championships at the Paragon ranges.
They did however, manage to retain the long range title over distances of 900 and 1000 yards while Regional champion Lennox Braithwaite retained his title and Persaud himself added to the collection by winning the Wogart Trophy in the short range team match.
“Our downfall which led to us relinquishing our short range title was simply based on us trying too hard on that day,” said Persaud.
“Despite losing the short range title we still managed to place third in the Australian Cup; Lennox (Braithwaite) retained his crown and we are still the long range champions, so we had a bit of mixed fortunes but we still managed to bring home most of our titles,” he declared.
When asked about upcoming plans Persaud said that himself along with Braithwaite and Ransford Goodluck are preparing to participate in the Commonwealth Shooting Federation (CSF) Championships in England from July 23-25 from which two shooters will be selected for the Commonwealth Games.
He also expressed the willingness to work along with the other upcoming marksmen in an initiative aimed at broadening the horizon of shooters in the country.
“Our programme for the year is to train new guys in the art of shooting. Also to strengthen the ones we currently have. This will give Guyana more of a chance in the future and we have four of the best shooters in the Caribbean. We want to ensure all our guys end up on that level,” he concluded.
