New Delhi, Dec 1 (IANS) The 68th National Shooting Championship Competitions (NSCC) got underway here at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting range, with a record 16,000 plus shooters qualifying to participate across categories in rifle, pistol, and shotgun events. The NSCC traditionally heralds the beginning of a new season for Indian shooting, and Group 5 Trap qualifiers in the Shotgun discipline were the first to fire.
The previous 67th NSCC saw 13,522 shooters qualify. All top Indian shooters have entered the fray and the schedule, spread over one month, has been finalised, keeping in mind the ISSF World Cup Finals, which will take place in Doha between December 4 and 9, and where 15 Indians have qualified to compete.
Along with Shotgun, the Pistol events will also be conducted at the Karni Singh Ranges, while the Rifle events will be held at Madhya Pradesh State Shooting Academy in Bhopal.
The Pistol events will begin on December 11 and will run until January 4, 2026, while the Rifle events will also start on December 11 and conclude on January 2, 2026. The Shotgun nationals will run throughout December and conclude on January 5, 2026.
The competitions will be conducted in seven categories, including Super Masters (70 years and above). Senior Masters (60-70 years), Masters (45-60 years), Seniors (Open), Juniors (21 years), Youth (19 years or before), Sub-Youth (16 years or before) in all three disciplines. Regardless of the category or categories under which the shooters have registered, each athlete is permitted to shoot only once throughout the competition, but their scores will be counted towards any other category they have registered. The competition will also feature dedicated categories for Para-athletes and Deaf athletes.
The athletes who took part in the 66th and 67th NSCC, Zonal Championships 2025, 34th G.V Mavlankar Shooting Championship 2025, India Open Competitions 2025, and 27th All India Kumar Surendra Singh Shooting Championships 2025, and have achieved qualifying scores as per Rule 17.6 of NRAI Match Book, are allowed to participate in the 68th NSCC.
All top shooters of the country will be participating in the nationals, whose scores will be counted when the Indian team for the 2026 international season is picked. A total of 40 teams will be represented at the nationals, including almost all states and union territories, as well as those representing the armed forces of the country and public institutions like the ONGC and the Railways.
The Women and Junior Women Skeet finals will be held on December 13, and the Men and Junior Men finals will be held on December 16. The mixed team events for both seniors and juniors will be held on December 17.
In Trap, the finals for Women, Junior Women, and Junior Men will be held on December 29, and the Men’s final will be held on January 2, 2026. The mixed team final will be held on January 3, 2026, and the Shotgun events will come to a conclusion on January 5, 2026, with the double trap events.
The Pistol events will kick-start on December 11 with the qualification rounds of the 10m Air Pistol and 25m Sports events. The final of the 25m Pistol event will be held on December 15, and the 10m Air Pistol finals will be held on December 18.
The 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men’s qualification will start on December 23, and finals will be held on December 26. The qualifying rounds of the men’s 10m Air Pistol will start on December 20 and will go on until January 4, 2026, with the finals scheduled on the same day.
The 10m Mixed Team finals will be held on December 19. Finals will be conducted only for the Olympic events, and the non-Olympic medals will be decided based on the qualification rounds.
The Rifle Nationals commence in Bhopal on December 11, with the qualification rounds of the men’s 10m Air Rifle Men and 50m Rifle 3Positions Men events. The finals of the 50m Rifle 3P will be held on December 16, and the 10m Air Rifle finals will be held on December 22, after a marathon qualifying round which includes 51 relays.
The mixed team finals will be held on December 23. The qualifying rounds of the 50m Rifle 3P Women will start on December 24, and the 10m Air Rifle Women event will start on Christmas Day. The finals of 50m 3P will be held on December 27, and after another 40-relay qualification, the finals of the 10m Rifle Women will be held on January 2, 2026.
–IANS
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