CHENNAI: WITH preparations for the Shooting League of India (SLI) in full-swing, the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) has further strengthened its position on promoting the league. It has added the SLI to its annual calendar.
The SLI will be a franchise based shooting competition, where mixed team events across pistol (10m, 25m), rifle (10m, 50m three-position), and shotgun (trap and skeet) will take place. The league, which was announced earlier this year, will kickoff from November 20.
"We received multiple proposals from our member countries but India's idea stood out for me," said Luciano Rossi, ISSF president, in a virtual roundtable.
Over 70 shooters from around 20 countries, and around 500 domestic shooters have applied for the auction, for which a date is yet to be confirmed. "The Indian league (SLI) is really important also because it gives great attention and equal representation to men and women. I hope that this will be great chance for the athletes to receive attention from TV. It is time that the game opens to the world and we are ready to receive the attention," Rossi added.
Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo, president of the National Rifles Association of India (NRAI) emphasised on how technology could bridge the gap between the sport and the audiences. "New camera angles and biofeedback can be brought in to bring more excitement to the game as well as a better understanding of what the athlete is going through. When they are pulling that trigger and hitting that shot and the joys or the disappointments felt by them and they miss the goal by just the width of one breath," he said.
With regards to the format, Kalikesh said that the league will try to keep it to the purest form of the game. "We also understand the pressures and the pulls of the current market of audiences. We are in advanced talks with some sponsors and broadcasters. We are also looking at esports as a key component to the league," he said.
Additionally the ISSF has scheduled the 2027 shooting World Cup and the 2028 ISSF junior World Championships in Delhi. This year, the ISSF will host the junior World Cup in September in Delhi.