NRAI felicitates Junior shooting World Cup medallists

New Delhi: National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) President Raninder Singh on Saturday felicitated the medallists of the Junior Shooting World Cup, held in Azerbaijan recently.

India won a total of 24 medals in the competition, including nine gold, five silver and 10 bronze medals to finish an impressive second in the overall medals tally. Russia topped the table with a total of 25 medals including 12 gold medals.

The medallists received cash awards along with certificates. Their performance was an improvement from the fourth place finish achieved at the year`s first junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany, where the juniors had won a total of 10 medals including three golds.

The standout performances in this edition include individual golds in two Olympic events -- Shubhankar Pramanik`s 50M Rifle Prone gold and Rushiraj Barot`s gold in the 10M Air Pistol event.

The cash awards included Rs. 5000 for each gold medal winner in the team category, Rs. 3000 each for silver and Rs. 2000 each for bronze winners.

For winners in individual events, the cash rewards included Rs. 11,000 each for gold medal winners, Rs. 7500 each for silver and Rs. 5000 each for bronze medallists.

Speaking on the occasion at the Karni Singh Shooting Range, Singh said: "Junior shooters started from scratch in the last two years and today Seniors are also threatened. Apart from the performances in Rifle and Pistol events, there were excellent results in Shotgun as well."

"I only want to say that you are the future and you will be competing in Tokyo 2020. We must have some form of transitory policy to safeguard the interest of shooters. The Junior coaches have done a wonderful job and parents have played a very important role as well," he added.