VietNamNet Bridge – The National Shooting Championship will be kicked off at the National Sports Centre’s No 1 today after a two-day delay due to damages caused by heavy rain.

A week of rain in Ha Noi has caused the collapse of a 70m wall and water-logged the trap-shooting machine storage area. Although staff were mobilised to pump water out of the cellar and dry the equipment; organisers are still worried that the US$7,000 machines are broken.

“It is possible that the trap shooting events will be delayed even longer and maybe even cancelled depending on the machines,” said Nguyen Duc Uynh, head of the Sports Administration’s Shooting Federation.

According to Uynh, the centre suffered at least VND300 million ($17,800) in damages.

The tournament, which was scheduled to kick off on Monday, is the second sporting event to be affected by the recent heavy rains. The international football T&T Cup’s match between Viet Nam and Thailand was also postponed last Saturday.

Numbers down

Bad weather is not only one reason the championship has seen a decrease in participants this year.

Organisers said 260 athletes had signed up to compete in 46 tournament events, which is one fifth of the participants compared to previous years.

“The reason is due to limited resources for almost all teams nation-wide,” Uynh said.

“In addition to cash for meals, hotels and transportation, teams must spend a lot on bullets for training and for use during the competition.

Bullets make up a large part of their budgets,” he said.

On average, one shooter who competes in one event will need at least 100 bullets for the competition and another 300 for training.

Bullets currently cost between VND4,600 to VND6,600 each, but there are special types that cost from VND11,000 to VND20,000 each. In the end, one shooter will spend up to VND2 million ($120) for one event, and more if he or she enters multiple events.

As a result, all teams must carefully consider which competitors should enter which events to reduce expenses, even though this is the national championship, Uynh said.

Veterans Nguyen Manh Tuong, Pham Cao Son, Nguyen Thi Duc Hanh and Dang Hong Ha will certainly compete in this event, as they have great promise to take gold medals. Unfortunately cash limitations mean that young athletes may lose their chance to shine.

Milestone

In an effort to create enthusiasm for the sport, a trap-shooting tournament for businessmen will be held from November 7-11.

The first ever three-event tourney in Viet Nam will represent a turning point for national shooting, as it promises to popularise the sport.

Organisers had hoped to attract 40-50 competitors but already more than 80 have registered.

This is the same number of competitors in a typical official tournament and is rising each day.

Although it may not seem like a lot of people, the number is a good sign for the future of a sport that has never been open to amateurs.

It shows that shooting has attracted the attention of the public and there is a growing number of people who love the sport.

Sport shooting faces huge obstacles to becoming popularised due to strict rules and regulations regarding the use of weapons.

These regulations explain why fundraising for the sport in Viet Nam is a big challenge.

(Source: Viet Nam News)