‘Pak shooters have high chances of medals at Asian Games’

KARACHI: Pakistan has high chances of winning medals in shooting at Asian Games to be held in Indonesia from August 18 to September 2.

“We expect to win medals in Rapid Fire Pistol and Skeet-125 categories as our shooters are very well prepared in these disciplines,” said Javed S Lodhi, Executive Vice President of National Rifle Association of Pakistan (NRAP).

He added that G M Bashir was doing fine in Rapid Fire Pistol and would easily be the finalist. Khalil, who won bronze medal in Islamic Solidarity Games in 2017, is also in good form, he added.

In Skeet, he said, Usman Chand and Abdul Sattar were in great form and would win medals at the Games. “They will surely break into the top ten shooters of the world by the next year,” said Javed. He added that Farrukh Nadeem in Trap category and Amir in Double Trap category had also improved a lot. “Minhal Suhail in Air Rifle category and Nadira in Rifle 3-positions have improved a lot and have bright prospects,” said Javed.

He said that Zeeshan and Ghufran in Air Rifle and Rifle 3-position categories had the ability to score well in the Asian Games. The 10-member team will be accompanied by Javed, Karamat-ur-Rahim, and Ghazanfar Abbas.

“The shooting events are held at different ranges, so three people must accompany the national squad,” said Javed. He said that after the Games a group of six shooters would participate in the 52nd ISSF World Championship in Changwon, Korea, from August 31 to September 15.

“Usman Chand, Khurrum Inam, G M Bashir, Farrukh Nadeem, Minhal Suhail and Zeeshan Shakir will participate in that championship to earn quota places for Tokyo 2020,” he added. He added that a camp for shooters was underway at the PN Shooting Range, Karsaz, where the athletes were training for the World Championship and Asian Games.

After that, he added, the shooters would participate in Asian championships in November in Kuwait. “We expect that three or four athletes of the country will win quota places for Tokyo 2020 in 25 meter, skeet, and rapid fire categories,” said Javed.

The highest score of Usman, a promising skeet shooter, is 121 which he registered at a World Cup in Gabala, Azerbaijan, in 2015.

Abdul Sattar’s highest score is 119 which he recorded at Asian championship in Doha in 2012. Minhal represented Pakistan at the Rio Olympics in 2016 where she recorded her highest score of 413.2.Bashir of Pakistan Navy plays in rapid fire pistol and centre-fire pistol events. He also represented Pakistan at the Rio Olympics in 2016. His highest score is 580 which he posted at the Incheon Asian Games in 2014.

Farrukh of Pakistan Army plays in trap and double trap events. His highest score is 114 which he recorded in the World Cup in Moscow last year.

Amir Iqbal of Pakistan Army plays Skeet-125 and Double Trap 150 and his highest score in DT-150 is 128 which he recorded at Asian championships in Al-Ain in 2014.

Zeeshan-ul-Farid plays Air Rifle 60 and his highest score is 618.0 which he registered in a world cup in Changwon in 2015. Nadira’s highest score in Rifle 3-positions is 562 which she managed in Asian Games in 2014.