Chandigarh, August 25 – The Punjab State Shooting Championship starting tomorrow to August 29 is set to become the premier shooting event in the country with the Punjab Rifle Shooting Association (PRSA) announcing prize money of Rs 32 lakh for the championship.
More than 500 shooters are expected to vie for top honours in 76 events during the course of the championship which will be inaugurated at Jalandhar tomorrow, according to a PRSA release here.
The PRSA, under the presidentship of Punjab Revenue minister Bikram Singh Majithia, has announced prize money of Rs 21,000 (gold medal), Rs 14,000 (silver medal) and Rs 7,000 (bronze medal) for all the 76 events, the first time this has been done by any State Rifle Association in the country.
“I am committed to taking Punjab to the top in shooting both in the country as well as the international level”, Mr Majithia said adding the emphasis being given to the sport since he was unanimously elected president of the Association was already giving results. “This has borne results with new talent emerging in the sport due to the concerted effort to promote shooting by giving prize money at even the annual school level championship”.
Mr Majithia said modern infrastructure was also being created to ensure shooters in Punjab have world class facilities at their disposal. Additional infrastructure which will be created in the coming days includes construction of new shooting range at Amritsar besides renovation of the international shooting range at Mohali and upgradation of the shooting range at Talwara.
The State championship will be inaugurated by Rural Development and Panchayat minister Sikander Singh Maluka tomorrow. Irrigation minister Sharanjit Dhillon will preside over the medal ceremony on August 28 and Mr Bikram Majithia will hand over the prizes to the winners onAugust 29, also at Jalandhar.