Why in News?

=> Madhya Pradesh Sports and Youth Welfare Minister Yashodhara Raje Scindia and Chief Secretary Iqbal Singh Bains inaugurated the 64th National Shooting (Rifle) Championship.

Key Points:

=> This competition is being organized at Madhya Pradesh State Shooting Academy, Bisankhedi (Goragaon), Bhopal under the joint aegis of Sports and Youth Welfare Department and National Rifle Association of India.

=> Olympic and International level players are participating in the championship. These include 6 Arjuna Awardees. This includes players from a total of 41 units of the country.

=> Top 8 players will be selected from this championship, who will represent India in national and international tournaments.

=> A 256-member team from the host Madhya Pradesh is participating in the competition. The largest party is from Maharashtra (518 members).

• Apart from this, 440 players from Uttar Pradesh, 368 from Rajasthan, 344 from Haryana and 221 from Punjab are participating. 70 gold medals will be at stake in the championship.

=> Madhya Pradesh Shooting Academy is fully air-conditioned and has been designed keeping in mind the international competition.

• It has 60 lanes of 50 m, 70 lanes of 10 m and 50 lanes of 25 m. The same 3 lanes of trap shooting have been prepared.

=> A 50 meter shooting range and three trap and skeet ranges have been set up at Madhya Pradesh State Shooting Academy, Bhopal. 50 lanes have been made in the 50 meter range.

• It is a world class shooting range and has been developed into a high performance centre.