From May 22 to 28, the Russian shooting championship and youth championship were held at the Dynamo sports centre, located 14 km from the centre of Kazan. Seventy-seven athletes from 19 regions took part in the national championship, while 26 young shooters from nine regions of Russia competed in the junior championship.
The opening ceremony was attended by Alexander Chernov, senior coach of the Russian national shooting team, and Natalia Mukhina, head of the OSFSG sports department, who conveyed warm greetings and best wishes from OSFSG President Dmitry Rebrov to the participants. The shooters then began a week-long competition in sharp shooting.
It is worth noting that shooting competitions encompass the full diversity of this sport, with ten different disciplines. These include shooting with small-bore rifles, small-bore pistols, air pistols, and air rifles. Shooters competed in shooting from different distances (10, 25, 50 meters) and positions (standing, sitting, lying down) and with different numbers of scoring shots (40, 60, 120) in individual and mixed categories.
Each type of shooting has its own characteristics and nuances, as well as specific equipment that athletes carefully sel ect. In addition, before each shooting, all athletes very carefully and meticulously prepare their weapons.
The most important qualities in shooting are patience, concentration, composure, and coolness. This sport is highly specialized—it does not have as many fans as other disciplines, and it is also the most expensive sport—weapons, equipment, and bullets are not cheap.
The Belgorod Region team won the overall team competition, ahead of the Buryatia team. The Novosibirsk Region came in third.
In the Russian championship, the Saratov Region won with the highest score. Second and third places, with a difference of only five points, were shared by the Novosibirsk Region and the Republic of Buryatia, respectively.
Alexander Chernov, senior coach of the Russian national shooting team:
"Based on the results of the Russian Championships and the Russian Cup, the national team for deaf athletes (shooting) has been formed. The coaching council has included athletes who took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in the main team, and those who took 4th and 5th place in the reserve team! Priority for invitations to in-depth medical examinations and training events will be given to athletes who took 1st and 2nd place, and to juniors who took 1st place. If there are not enough places, the remaining athletes will be considered based on their results in the qualification round. In September, there will be a training event in Lisya Nora (Moscow Region). In Kazan, the conditions at the shooting range are excellent, and the judges worked at a 4+ level. Athletes fr om Buryatia, Novosibirsk, Belgorod, and others performed well. Among the juniors, Daria Polosina and Nikita Tumanov (St. Petersburg) performed well in the mixed pair with the strongest athletes, ultimately taking second place."
Text: Maria Mazhenina, Nurlan Tazhigulov
Photos: Ekaterina and Artur Ibatullins
Translation: Daria Kudelina
