Record 16,000 shooters compete in 68th National Shooting Championship in Hyderabad

The 68th National Shooting Championship began at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range in Hyderabad with over 16,000 shooters qualifying across rifle, pistol and shotgun events. The scores will help select India’s team for the 2026 international season

Hyderabad: The 68th National Shooting Championship Competitions (NSCC) got underway here at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, with a record 16,000 plus shooters qualifying to participate across categories in rifle, pistol and shotgun events.

The NSCC traditionally marks the beginning of a new season for Indian shooting and Group 5 Trap qualifiers in the shotgun discipline were the first to fire. The previous 67th NSCC saw 13,522 shooters qualify. All top Indian shooters have entered the fray and the schedule, spread over one month, has been finalised keeping in mind the ISSF World Cup Finals, which will take place in Doha between December 4 and 9, where 15 Indians have qualified to compete.

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Along with shotgun, the pistol events will also be conducted at the Karni Singh Ranges while the rifle events will be held at the Madhya Pradesh State Shooting Academy in Bhopal.

The pistol events will begin on December 11 and will run until January 4, while the rifle events will also start on December 11 and conclude on January 26. The shotgun nationals will run throughout December and conclude on January 5.

The competitions will be conducted in seven categories including Super Masters (70 years and above), Senior Masters (60-70 years), Masters (45-60 years), Seniors (Open), Juniors (21 years), Youth (19 years or before), and Sub-Youth (16 years or before) in all three disciplines. Regardless of the category under which the shooters have registered, each athlete is permitted to shoot only once throughout the competition, but their scores will be counted towards any other category they have registered. The competition will also feature dedicated categories for para-athletes and deaf athletes.

The athletes who took part in the 66th and 67th NSCC, Zonal Championships 2025, 34th GV Mavlankar Shooting Championship 2025, India Open Competitions 2025 and 27th All India Kumar Surendra Singh Shooting Championships 2025 and have achieved qualifying scores as per Rule 17.6 of the NRAI Match Book are allowed to participate in the 68th NSCC.

All top shooters of the country will be participating in the nationals, whose scores will be counted when the Indian team for the 2026 international season is picked. A total of 40 teams will be represented at the nationals, including almost all states and union territories as well as those representing the armed forces and public institutions like ONGC and the Railways.