New Delhi, May 15 (IANS) The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has announced that the National Selection Trials (NST) 2 and 3 for Shotgun events (Trap and Skeet) will be conducted in New Delhi and Bhopal, from May 21 and June 1, respectively.

These trials will help in finalising the Indian squad for a packed international calendar later in the year, including two ISSF World Cups (Italy and Greece), the 16th Asian Championships (Kazakhstan), the ISSF Junior World Cup (India-September) and the 3rd Asian Youth Games (Bahrain-October).

The NST 2 will be held at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi from May 21-26, 2025, with Skeet qualifications scheduled on Day One, with the finals subsequently scheduled on May 23. The Trap event will take place from May 24-26, 2025.

The Selection Committee will consider the scores of the ISSF Junior World Cup, Suhl, Germany, for those junior athletes participating in the event, as NST 2 coincides with it. Scores of such shooters will not be marked “Zero”. In view of this, there will be no separate selection trials for junior athletes in the shotgun category, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) informed in a release on Thursday.

The NST 3 will be hosted at the Madhya Pradesh State Shooting Academy, Bhopal, from June 1-8, 2025. The Skeet event will run from June 1-4, followed by the Trap competition from June 5-8, with each discipline concluding in finals on the last day of their respective schedule.

Eligibility for the upcoming Selection Trials is based on performances at the 67th National Shooting Championship Competitions (NSCC) and the 3rd Digvijay Singh Memorial Shooting Championship. To qualify, shooters must have recorded a minimum score of 110 (Seniors) and 100 (Juniors) in Trap and Skeet (Men), and 95 (Seniors) and 90 (Juniors) in the corresponding Women’s events.

Additionally, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awardees and Arjuna Awardees will be eligible to participate irrespective of their scores.

Meanwhile, the NRAI will be conducting the National Selection Trials 3 and 4 in Rifle and Pistol events for Group ‘A’ shooters, from June 24 to 30, 2025, at the Trishul Shooting Range, Maharana Pratap Sports College, Raipur, Dehradun. These trials will help in shaping the Indian team for the 16th Asian Shooting Championships 2025 in Kazakhstan in August and ISSF World Cup in China and Egypt later in the year.

–IANS

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