Guyana’s rifle shooters have heighten preparation for the 2014 West Indies Fullbore shooting championships billed for early next month at Twickenham Park ranges in Jamaica.National Fullbore captain Mahendra Persaud said that the local shooters will be involved in team practice matches for the remainder of this month before flying out to Kingston, Jamaica on May 4 where they will defend the Regional long range title and attempt to recapture the short range championship they relinquished to the Jamaicans last year in Barbados.
With the Commonwealth Games a few months away, the regional shooters will be looking to perform at their best ahead of the Games in Scotland, in July.
The West Indies fullbore championships scheduled for May 5-10 will feature Antigua/Barbuda, Barbados, Bermuda, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago while a team from Canada is expected to attend as a guest team.
“We have been in intensive training since the start of the year with individual training and recorded matches but now our concentration will be on team preparation,” Persaud added.
According to the National Captain: “We are extremely focused for the upcoming regional tournament and the recent training programme conducted by experienced British coach Ian Shaw who was in Guyana for two weeks sponsored by the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) was very in depth. We are now ready to put our new skills into practice.”
Persaud said there will be a few adjustments to the team this year due to injury to Dane Blair and the death of Charles Deane who competed in Barbados last year.
He is, however, confident of the return of Ryan Sampson who was unavailable to travel to Bridgetown last year, and with the inclusion of new shooting sensation Sherwin Felicien.
The current training squad also includes reigning Caribbean Individual champion Lennox Braithwaite, the experienced Ransford Goodluck, vice captain Dylan Fields, Leo Romalho, Peter Persaud and Lt. Col. Terrence Stuart.
ACP retired Paul Slowe, at present overseas, will join the training before the team leaves for Jamaica.
Persaud said that United States-based Guyanese shooters John Fraser and Sigmund Douglas, two regular members, will also be a part of the Guyana delegation and will travel directly to Jamaica.
Today’s team shoot at the Timehri Rifle Ranges will be at the 300, 500 and 900 yards ranges starting at 10:00 hrs