Hopes of winning a gold medal in the forthcoming Commonwealth Games again revolved round the shooters who expressed their confidence about earning laurels for the country.
The shooting federation has also announced prize money of Tk 10 lakh for each gold medal.
Shooters and federation officials at a briefing at the National Shooting Complex on Tuesday expressed their hopes of hitting the bull’s eye.
‘Our shooters have put up good performances in training and all of them have improved their scores. Now it is time for them to prove their mettle on the stage. We hope they are capable of fulfilling the target,’ the federation’s general secretary Istiaque Ahmed Bablu said.
Istiaque, however, said the preparations could have been better if they had provided the shooters with a foreign coach. ‘Our preparations are quite good as the shooters are scoring near world-class marks. We have tried overseas coaches in the past but local coaches also did well. Yet a foreign coach could boost the confidence of the shooters,’ he said.
The 10m Air Rifle remains Bangladesh’s hope for a gold medal as usual. Asif Hossain Khan and Abdullah-hel-Baki, and Sharmin Akter Ratna and Syeda Sadia Sultana will from the men and women’s teams. They will also compete in individual events.
Ratna shot 398 in the SA Games, 396 in the Commonwealth Shooting to win the individual gold and 394 in the World Championships. Sadia Sultana’s score were 396, 392 and 390 in the SA Games, Commonwealth Shooting and the Youth Olympic Games.
Asif’s score in the SA Games, Commonwealth Shooting and World Championships were 596,
594 and 591. He has averaged 595 consistently in the training. Baki shot 591 in the SA Games, did not go to the Commonwealth Shooting and surpassed his illustrious partner Asif in the World Championships, shooting 593.
Asif, who won a gold medal in 2002, was looking forward but cautiously. ‘I won the gold scoring 587 but these days you nee to score near 600 to win the gold. All I can say is I am going to put in my best and I am prepared to take the challenges,’ Asif said.
Ratna said she was confident about keeping consistent. ‘In shooting, nobody can talk about a gold medal before the event takes place. It is a very complex game and a shooter needs to move through different patches. All I can say is I have won the gold there and I am ready to excel again.’
The shooting federation also hopes Armin Asha might excel in the 10m Air Pistol and the experienced Sabrina Sultana and Sharmin Shilpa in the 50m Rifle Three Position and Prone.
Other shooters in the squad are Toufique Shahriar Chandan who will be participating in the 50meter Air Rifle Three Position, and 50meter Rifle Prone, Ramzan Ali, who will be taking part in the 50meter Air Rifle Three Position and 50meter Rifle Prone, and Nuruddin Selim and Iqbal Selim, who will be blazing their guns in the skeet.
