Why there’s lack of good shotgun shooters

KARACHI: Shotgun shooting has did not achieve popularity in the country until recently as Pakistani athletes mostly dominated in rifle and pistol categories.

Pakistan has produced a number of good shooters over the years mostly in pistol and rifle categories as is evident from the participation in the Olympics. Azam Jan was the first shooter from Pakistan to participate in Olympics when he took part in Rifle Prone category in the 1952 Olympics.

In the 1956 Olympics, M Zafar featured in 3-position Rifle, Rifle Prone, and Free Pistol events while Saifi Chauhdry participated in the Free Rifle event. He again participated in Skeet events in both 2004 and 2012 Olympics, while in the 2008 Olympics Siddique Umer featured in 3-position rifle and air rifle events.

“Age is no barrier in shotgun but there are various reasons for lack of good shotgun shooters in the country,” said seasonsed shotgun shooter Abdul Sattar Satti while talking to ‘The News’. He added that the biggest issue is that shotgun shooting is very expensive and only the few affluent can afford to play it.

For example, he added, one shotgun shooter needs at least ammunition worth over 1 million rupees just to practise for one year and it becomes quite problematic as all ammunition is imported.

He said that though there is a local production of ammunition as well, it lacks in quality. “Even local ammunition was not available for the past three years as Wah Industries stopped production due to plant closure,” said Satti.

He said that the current prices of different ammunition clearly show the difference between the shotgun shooting and pistol shooting. “One pellet for air rifle/pistol shooting is just about Rs5 and one bullet is about Rs25 for pistol and rifle.

“On the other hand, the price of one shotgun shell is around Rs 120 and with target bird it comes to Rs132,” said Satti. But Secretary National Rifle Association of Pakistan Razi Ahmed Khan believes that lack of self-confidence is the main reason we don’t have good shotgun shooters in Pakistan. “No doubt it’s a very expensive sport and mostly industrialists play this in the country, especially in Sindh, but I think lack of confidence is a more important factor,” said Razi.

He reasoned that expenses are no issue for armed forces so it is only lack of confidence and mental strength that don’t let forces produce great shotgun shooters. “This sport is played by princes and royal families in Arab world and this is the reason they have produced great shotgun shooters in the world,” said Razi. But, he added, there is a hope now as recently Pakistan’s top shooter Usman Chand won a gold medal and Imam Haroon, a junior skeet shooter from Lahore, won a bronze medal at international level. “They defeated top shooters from other countries. This gives us hope. I hope that shotgun shooting will now get a boost in the country,” said Razi.