India has been awarded the hosting rights for next year's Junior World Cup involving competitions in rifle, pistol and shotgun disciplines, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) said on Saturday.
This will be the country's third top International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) event in recent times after the senior World Cup in Bhopal in 2023 and the season-ending World Cup Final earlier this year, reinforcing India's stature as one of the sport's top destinations in the world.
The dates of the tournament are yet to be finalised.
Reacting to the development after the NRAI received the official confirmation from the ISSF, the national federation's president Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo, said, "We had a fruitful executive committee meeting of the ISSF in Rome last month and all member federations as well as the ISSF president Luciano Rossi was all praise with the way India has been hosting top international shooting competitions and helping to grow the sport globally.
"We obviously got the sense then but now that the official confirmation has come, we are excited to put our best foot forward."
NRAI secretary general Sultan Singh added, "The ISSF in their letter have requested us to confirm two possible convenient slots, one in September-October and the other during the end October-beginning November period. We will after meeting internally share the same with them at the earliest so that member federations can prepare accordingly.
"The world's top future champions of shooting are going to converge in India and we are confident that it will give the sport another grassroots boost in the country."
This will be the ninth top level shooting championship to be held in India over the past decade. Before this, India had hosted two continental championships and six ISSF competitions, including two World Cup Final competitions and four senior ISSF World Cups.
