Commonwealth Games 2018: Gagan Narang's experience, pedigree makes him big medal prospect for India

File photo of Gagan Narang. AFP

Name: Gagan Narang

Age: 34

Sport: Shooting

Category: 50-meter rifle prone

Past CWG performances: Four gold medals each at CWG 2006 and 2010; one silver and one bronze in CWG 2014

Best performance: Bronze at London Olympics 2012

When you think about India's medal prospects at top international multi-discipline events, the first sport that comes to mind is shooting. Indeed it has given India its only individual gold medal at the Olympics. That apart, there has been two silver medals and a bronze at the highest stage of all. There has been a whole bagful of medals won at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. And now with the Commonwealth Games slated to start from 4 April, shooting is again at the forefront of India's medal campaign. And when you talk of Indian shooting, the biggest name that comes to mind, among the current crop of players, is Gagan Narang.

The London Olympics bronze medallist, along with Jitu Rai and Apurvi Chandela, would be anchoring India's gold quest at Gold Coast, Australia as part of the 27-member squad for the Commonwealth Games.

Narang, one might remember, had won silver in the 50-meter rifle prone and bronze in the 50-meter rifle three position categories respectively in the 2014 Commonwealth Games at Glasgow. The previous two Commonwealth Games, in New Delhi in 2010 and in Melbourne in 2006 had brought him richer harvests, with Narang winning four gold medals on both those occasions. In 2010, he paired with India's Beijing Olympics hero Abhinav Bindra to win the 10-meter air rifle event. He went on to win the individual 10-meter air rifle event too. His two other gold medals at the New Delhi Games came in 50-meter air rifle three position events in both paired and individual categories. His 2006 CWG golds also came in the same events. His partnership with Bindra did wonders there too as the duo won two golds together.

In the Asian Games, Narang has won two silver medals (in 2010) and a bronze (2006). This is apart from the multiple medals at ISSF World Championships, World Cups and World Cup Finals. Year 2016 wasn't a great year for him. He failed to secure qualification for the 10-meter air rifle category and was dropped from the Indian team for the first three World Cups, and then put up a very meek show at the Rio Olympics. The year 2017 was a bit better which saw him winning silver at the Commonwealth Shooting Championships in Gold Coast.

Narang will be participating in the 50-meter rifle prone event at the Commonwealth Games and his vast experience and pedigree on the big stage makes him one of the biggest medal prospects for India.


Posted by Thom Erik Syrdahl
Source: - http://www.firstpost.com/sports/commonwealth-games-2018

2018 ISSF Season preview: ten competitions in the works

..Traveling around the world and stopping in six cities, five countries and three continents, the 2018 ISSF World Cup Series will kick off on March 1st. While the 52nd edition of the ISSF World Championship in all events will highlight the second half of the season, along with the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games.

With ten competitions taking place between March and October in seven different countries, 2018 will be an action-packed year for shooting sport.

The 2018 ISSF World Cup Series will include six of those ten competition, with the first one kicking off on March 1st and taking place in Guadalajara (MEX). In the following months, then, the best shooting sport athletes in the world will travel to Changwon (KOR), Fort Benning (USA), Munich (GER), Siggiewi (MLT) and Tucson (USA).

Here’s the detailed schedule of the 2018 ISSF World Cup Series:

• ISSF World Cup Stage 1 in Guadalajara (MEX) from March 1st to March 12th
• ISSF World Cup Stage 2 in Changwon (KOR) from April 20th to April 30th
• ISSF World Cup Stage 3 in Fort Benning (USA) from May 7th to May 15th
• ISSF World Cup Stage 4 in Munich (GER) from May 22nd to May 29th
• ISSF World Cup Stage 5 in Siggiewi (MLT) from June 5th to June 15th
• ISSF World Cup Stage 6 in Tucson (USA) from July 9th to July 19th

In between the six stages of the yearly World Cup, junior shooters of the three disciplines will travel to Australia and Germany for the two ISSF Junior World Cup scheduled this year:

• ISSF Junior World Cup 1 in Sydney (AUS) from March 19th to March 29th
• ISSF Junior World Cup 2 in Suhl (GER) from June 22nd to June 29th

Once the ISSF World Cup Series will be in the book, focus will shift on the two most-awaited competition of the season: the 52nd ISSF World Championship in all events — scheduled in Changwon from August 31st to September 15th.

The latest edition of the ISSF World Championship in all events took place in Granada (ESP) in September 2014, when the Spanish city welcomed more than two-thousand shooters, from 94 National Olympic Committees.

A total of 708 medals will be awarded in Changwon, including senior, junior, team and mixed team events, both Olympic and non-Olympic. Events will be contested in the five current shooting sport disciplines: Rifle, Pistol, Shotgun, Running Target and Target Sprint.

Finally, midway through October, the icy on the cake of an extraordinary season will be the signed by the young and talented shooters who are going to compete at the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games, scheduled in the Argentinian capital city from the 6th to the 18th.

Live results, news and updates will be available on www.issf-sports.org and on all ISSF social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Weibo and Youku.

Marco Vettoretti


Posted by Thom Erik Syrdahl
Source ISSF Website

European Championship 10m: Gyor is ready for new records

European Championship 10m, Europe YOG Qualification · Gyor, HUN

The 2018 European Championship in 10m events will take place in Gyor, Hungary, from the 16th through the 26th of February. Entries and participating nations rocketed to record numbers.

The 2018 European Championship 10m in Gyor, Hungary, is only about to start on February 16th and already it has set several new records. For the first time in the history of the European Air Guns Championship, 48 Member Federations are participating. The largest delegations will come from Hungary, Russia, Ukraine and Germany. Italy, Slovakia, Croatia, Czech Republic and Norway are also sending impressive teams of more than 40 athletes each. Austria, Poland, Sweden, France, Belarus, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Armenia will be represented by 30 or more shooters each.

Another record is expected in the number of total entries. More than 650 shooters have been entered to take part in the individual competitions. 82 Mixed Teams in Pistol are registered so far - 49 in Senior and 33 in Junior events. 78 Mixed Teams are planning to compete in Rifle - 43 in Senior and 35 in Junior categories. 180 young men and women athletes will take part in the 2018 Youth Olympic Games Qualification. The total number of entries, including the Running Target events, is therefore expected to exceed 1150 athletes!

It will also see the awarding of medals in the new Olympic events - Air Pistol/Air Rifle Mixed Teams, introduced by the European Shooting Confederation at the 2015 European Games in Baku, according to the new format approved by the ISSF in 2017. The five top-ranked teams in Qualification will proceed directly to the Final.  

There will be another novelty at the Championship in Gyor. For the first time in history, the Team events’ champions and medallists will be determined not by mathematical addition of the individual Qualification scores, but through competitions that will end up in Medal Matches. This is why the former schedule of the European Championships has been modified for now each athlete, Junior and Senior, has a chance to compete during three days in three events. One day in individual, another in Mixed Team and, finally, in the Team event.  

In order to promote the Mixed Team competitions as well as the new format of the Team competitions, the ESC President has established his personal prizes for the medal winners and finalists in those events among Seniors and Juniors.

To increase the public interest to the Championship, all the necessary arrangements have been made by the Organizing Committee, the Hungarian Shooting Federation and the European Shooting Confederation to guarantee quality media coverage of the competitions in Gyor. In cooperation with the European Broadcasting Union and the Host Broadcaster DIGI TV, live TV coverage will be available of the Finals in six Olympic events - Air Rifle Men, Air Rifle Women and Air Pistol Mixed Team on February 23rd as well as Air Pistol Men, Air Pistol Women and Air Rifle Mixed Team on February 24th. Several of our Member Federations, including Germany, France, Slovenia and Russia, have acquired the respective rights for this TV coverage to be relayed within their territories. We are expecting more to join the list.  

But that is not all!  There will be live Internet streaming that will cover the Finals in all individual, Mixed Team and Team events in Air Rifle/Air Pistol as well as the Running Target competitions in Junior and Senior categories on February 20th-25th. It will also cover the continental qualification for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games on February 18th.

All those interested in the live viewing of the 2018 European Championship 10m should follow the website of the European Shooting Confederation www.esc-shooting.org.

ESC Press Office

Posted by Thom Erik Syrdahl

Source: - ISSF Website - http://www.issf-sports.org/news.ashx?newsid=2968

ISSF Rules: updated version published

The new, updated version of the ISSF Official Statutes Rules and Regulation is now available for download

An updated version of the ISSF Official Statutes Rules and Regulation has been published at: http://www.issf-sports.org/theissf/rules.ashx 

The new “EDITION 2017 | Second Print V1.1 01/2018” of the ISSF Rules includes several editorial changes and corrections, and all forms and applications have been updated. 

Here you can download an additional document which details all the changes: http://www.issf-sports.info/Changes_2017_ISSF_Rulebook_2ndPrint_V1.1_20180209.pdf 

National Federation officials, competition officials, coaches, and athletes are invited to download the new rules, so they can work with the most recent ISSF Rules edition.

The “Amendments and Interpretation” containing guidelines, checklists and manuals are currently updated and will be published in the coming weeks at: http://www.issf-sports.org/theissf/rules/amendments_interpretation.ashx 

National Federations that publish rules in their language should contact the ISSF Headquarters at munich@issf-sports.org to request a special version of the rules where all changes and updates included in the new ISSF Rules “EDITION 2017 | Second Print V1.1 01/2018” are marked for easier comparison. 

ISSF Press Office

Posted by Thom Erik Syrdahl

Source: - ISSF Website

ISSF met CGF in relation to Birmingham 2022

As it stands, the sport of shooting has not been selected for inclusion in Birmingham 2022, but ISSF remains open-minded to delivery options

The ISSF, along with the International Confederation of Full-bore Rifle Associations, met with the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) on 6 February 2018 to discuss Shooting Sport in the Commonwealth, specifically in relation to the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and beyond. Both bodies discussed the current state of affairs and the work being undertaken by the CGF and the City of Birmingham, as they commence planning of the 2022 Games.    

The CGF reiterated that the sports programme submission by Birmingham 2022 is fully compliant with the CGF Constitution’s bylaws and that, as it stands, the sport of shooting has not been selected for inclusion in Birmingham 2022 by the delivery partnership.   

Whilst acknowledging the peculiar set of circumstances facing the CGF and Birmingham, ISSF took the opportunity to outline several delivery options for the sport, should this situation be open for further consultation or change. The ISSF remains open-minded to delivery options (e.g. revised venue requirements; equipment and competition formats) should the opportunity allow.  

ISSF Press Office

Posted by Thom Erik Syrdahl.

Source:- ISSFWebsite