Local Rifle Shooters back in the groove ahead of World Championships

Jun 25, 2015 Sports

By Franklin Wilson
Members of the Guyana National Rifle Association (GNRA) returned to the Timehri Ranges on Sunday last following the release of ammunition that would have resulted in training being curtailed for the

World Championships Bound! Team Guyana members on the West Indies Team to the World Long Range Championships in practice mode at the Timehri Ranges on Sunday.

past few months.
Eight members of the GNRA are part of the West Indies team that will contest the 2015 Palma Match, Team and Individual World Championships which is set for Camp Perry, Ohio, USA from August 3rd to 14th.
Speaking with Kaieteur Sport at the ranges on Sunday, National Captain Mahendra Persaud said that they were happy to be at what they love doing again and will be pushing hard to be in top shape for the World Championships.
He stated that the ammunition they received and are now using is top class ammunition which was supported by the other shooters which included Caribbean and National Individual champion, Lennox Braithwaite. Practice was held at the 300, 900 and 1000 Yards Ranges.
“Today (Sunday) is actually the zeroing day. As you notice we are doing the swing shooting which is the format that would be used at the World Individual Championships. We are trying to get everything in order and in a systematic way. This would be the order of the day for next week also and then we’ll take it from there given the time we have left before we depart.”
Team training, Persaud noted would be somewhat of a challenge given the fact that a number of the Coaches are not and will not be around. ACP Retired Paul Slowe who has been appointed the Main team Coach by the West Indies Full Bore Shooting Council is presently overseas and Persaud himself is leaving for the 146th Imperial Meeting (Bisley) from 16th June to 18th July, in the UK.
Systems would be put in place for Braithwaite, Ransford Goodluck and Dylan Fields to assist in this regard, Persaud said.
Competition at the World Championships being held under the auspices of the International Confederation of Fullbore Rifle Associations (ICFRA), would be held at the 800, 900 and 100 yards ranges.
Among the countries competing would be the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Germany, Continental Europe and Kenya.
The Guyana members on the West Indies team are Mahendra Persaud (Vice Captain), Lennox Braithwaite, Ransford Goodluck, Dylan Fields, Leo Romalho, Ryan Sampson, Sigmund Douglas (USA based) and John Fraser (USA based).
The remaining shooters named are from Trinidad and Tobago – Norris Gomez, Michael Perez, and Ezekiel Joseph; Antigua/Barbuda – Anderson Perry and Thomas Greenaway; Barbados – Marlon King and Shelly-Ann Hinds and Jamaica’s Dwayne Forde.
Jamaican John Nelson is the non-Shooting Captain; ACP Retired Paul Slowe is the Main Wind Coach; Adjutant David Dumont of Bermuda and Dennis Lee of Jamaica, Assistant Wind Coach.
The West Indies Fullbore Shooting Council (WIFSC) named their team following the Regional Championships last year in Jamaica where Guyana won both the Short and Long Range titles.