Pak shooters have ‘good time’ at practice range

ISLAMABAD: Shooters Khalil Akhtar and Ghulam Mustafa Bashir spent half an hour at the Asaka Range making the best use of the available time ahead of their 25m Rapid Fire Pistol competition of Tokyo Olympics set to start on August 1.

Talking to ‘The News’ from Tokyo, Khalil said that training went well on Friday. “Because of the busy schedule you hardly get a chance to train here. On Friday we were provided with the opportunity and trained there for half an hour,” he added.

Khalil said that around 40 shots were fired by each Pakistani shooter during the training session. “It was a good session as we were aiming to get used to the range on which we are to compete on Sunday (tomorrow). We both hit a good number of shots and found the Range comfortable to train,” he added.

Pakistan shooters will get another opportunity to train on Saturday (today). “We have been told that another training opportunity will be offered on Saturday. We hope to be provided with another half an hour access to the range. That last session of training will be important as it will set the tone for competition on Sunday,” Khalil said.

Both Khalil and Ghulam Mustafa are considered potential medal winners. A good start is what both are looking at. “The first round on August 1 where we are to hit 30 shots is very important. It will help boost the confidence for the second round,” he added.