New Delhi, Sep 10 (IANS) The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) “B” Shotgun Judges Course commenced in New Delhi on Thursday. Organised by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), the five-day course will continue until September 14, 2026.

A total of 16 participants from India and Oman are attending the course, which is aimed at further strengthening the knowledge and technical expertise of shooting officials in accordance with ISSF rules and international standards.

The course is being conducted by Mohamed Wahdan (Egypt), Chairperson of the ISSF Shotgun Committee, as Instructor, assisted by Amar Jang Singh (India), Member of the ISSF Shotgun Committee, as Assistant Instructor.

The opening ceremony was attended by NRAI President Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo, Secretary General Pawankumar Singh, Secretary Rajiv Bhatia, and High Performance Manager (Shotgun) Mansher Singh, who welcomed the instructors and participants.

Welcoming the delegation, NRAI President Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo said, “NRAI has made a sustained push to build a strong education program for Indian shooting. Working closely with the ISSF, we have brought a number of ISSF courses to India over the last two to three years. Our goal is to double the number of coaches, judges, juries and officials across shotgun, pistol and rifle every two to three years. With over 100,000 registered shooters and nearly 20,000 competing at the national level under a demanding qualification standard, we need a strong and wide base of technical officials to support this ecosystem.”

Highlighting the scale of NRAI’s education efforts, Secretary General Pawankumar Singh said, “We have trained over 1,500 ISSF and national coaches and judges in the last four years. This year alone, we have conducted ISSF rifle judges courses, an ISSF EST course and an ISSF referee course. With the ISSF’s new requirement that coaches on the field of play hold an ISSF A or B license, we are also conducting a 44-participant ISSF B course, and for the first time, an ISSF A course in October. All of these courses are completely free of cost, made possible through the continued support of the Sports Authority of India and Olympic Gold Quest.”

The course forms part of NRAI’s continued efforts to strengthen the development of qualified technical officials and provide opportunities for officials to enhance their knowledge and experience in line with international standards.

–IANS

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