Fully equipped range at Kalinga Stadium a shot in the arm for shooters in Odisha

Sandip.Bal@timesgroup.com
The staccato cracks of air pistols and rifles welcomed us to the brand new 22-lane shooting high performance centre (HPC) on the Kalinga Stadium premises. The state-of-the-art 10-metre range, which was inaugurated by the chief minister earlier this month, has been set up by the department of sport and youth services, Odisha, along with Gagan Narang Sports Promotion Foundation in partnership with a private company.

Highlighting the difference the range will make to shooters in Odisha, national shooter from the state, Kashika Pradhan, said, “With such facilities available at home, we won’t need to go outside Odisha any more to train.It has ample infrastructure in place for the state’s shooting enthusiasts to train themselves for state, national and international events.”


According to HPC officials, the range has 22 training lanes, which will be expanded to 220 in the coming days. The range includes 10 electronic and 12 manual targets. It can train close to 60 shooters every day, right from beginners to advanced.
According to Gagan Narang, ace shooter and Olympic medalist, the 10-metre range is the first step towards setting up the HPC. They will now train scouted talents as well as the current crop of shooters in the six Olympic medal categories. It is a one-of-its-kind facility in eastern India and can attract a lot of potential shooters from nearby states to continue their training under high performance coaches.


The MoU for setting of a shooting HPC was signed in November 2018. Accordingly, Gagan Narang's foundation had been scouting school kids from the state, mostly from Bhubaneswar and surrounding areas, to be trained here.
“We have a target of selecting 200 students from among 4,200 and they will be offered a full training scholarship at the range,” said Narang, adding, “The talent identification process started from November 2019 in various schools using various meta-cognitive and physical tests to identify naturally talented children in the age group of 11-14. Till now, we have covered 2,000 students from various schools in the city. We have offered scholarships to 75 students and have started their training. The focus is to prepare them for the 2028 Olympics.”

Kalikesh Singhdeo, vice-president, National Rifle Association, said, “Odisha started with three shooters and now, there are around 40-50. With this high performance centre, more shooters will emerge from the state. Since shooting is a fast growing sport, it will enhance our chances of winning more medals at the international level.”


There are 22 lanes in the range
There are 10 electronic lanes (international standard)
There 12 electrical manual (paper) targets
The paper targets have cameras installed on them to help shooters identify the correct score without having to pull the paper target towards themselves or walk towards it
The equipment available include .177 calibre air rifle (Walther Anatomic LG 400) and air pistol (Walther LP500)
The pellets are .177 calibre
60 shooters can train every day
The range is being expanded to 220 lanes
Equipped with hi-tech performance analysis equipment, which will provide additional benefits to trainees


One-month foundation course: Shooters are trained how to hold rifles and pistols, how to aim and pull the trigger along with physical and mental exercises
Three-month bullseye course: The shooter is given his choice of weapon and they train to hit the bullseye. After the completion of four months, one is eligible to take part in competitions.
A shooter is selected to the national squad after various state, pre-national and national-level competitions and then the national trial.
Then the shooter gets to take part in international events like Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Championship or the Olympics.