<p>Bengaluru: The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) is on a quest to capture hearts, minds and turn people's heads towards shooting in the country and the association hopes the Shooting League of India (SLI) does just that.</p>.<p>The league, the first-of-its-kind, also has a global flavour that is working in India's interest: the backing and trust of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF).</p>.Indian rifle shooter Niraj Kumar shown yellow card in ISSF World Cup, NRAI says jury at fault.<p>"We have had many proposals and ideas from different countries but the proposal from India about the league (SLI) is very important, because they give proper attention, the power to the athletes. We (ISSF) really appreciate India's proposal and will support this. I'm sure the tournament will be a great success," ISSF President Luciano Rossi said in a media interaction. </p>.<p>The league has managed to garner quite a bit of attention as more than 400 shooters, including 70 internationals from 20 countries have agreed to participate, with applications coming from countries such as China, Australia and the United Kingdom to name a few.</p>.<p>Shooting has also taken a strong stand in India recently after the success of Indian shooters in the Paris Olympics. The clubs have seen a rise in memberships while ranges in several cities have also witnessed a spike in people trying for the fun of it. </p>.<p>The pressing issue, however, is to make the sport television-friendly and attract new audiences from outside of the community. </p>.<p>"We are thrilled and excited to herald any reforms, innovations and technology that ISSF believes we need to bring into the sport. That can be experimented and brought into the league on a pilot basis, without affecting the Olympic sport as a whole," NRAI President Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo said.</p>.<p>"While the traditional form of sport is important for us, we will try and keep it in the purest form as possible, but we also understand the pressures and pulls of the current market of audiences and plan to bring as much excitement, thereby trying to increase the number of spectators."</p>.<p>The SLI auctions are set to be held in late August or early September and the tournament is scheduled to get underway from November. </p>.<p>India is also turning out to be an Asian and global shooting hub with the ISSF granting the World Cup in 2027 and the Junior World Championship in 2028. The 2026 Asian Cup is also scheduled to be held in India.</p>.<p>As the sport continues to find its way through in India, these are truly exciting times for shooters and shooting fans in the country.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) is on a quest to capture hearts, minds and turn people's heads towards shooting in the country and the association hopes the Shooting League of India (SLI) does just that.</p>.<p>The league, the first-of-its-kind, also has a global flavour that is working in India's interest: the backing and trust of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF).</p>.Indian rifle shooter Niraj Kumar shown yellow card in ISSF World Cup, NRAI says jury at fault.<p>"We have had many proposals and ideas from different countries but the proposal from India about the league (SLI) is very important, because they give proper attention, the power to the athletes. We (ISSF) really appreciate India's proposal and will support this. I'm sure the tournament will be a great success," ISSF President Luciano Rossi said in a media interaction. </p>.<p>The league has managed to garner quite a bit of attention as more than 400 shooters, including 70 internationals from 20 countries have agreed to participate, with applications coming from countries such as China, Australia and the United Kingdom to name a few.</p>.<p>Shooting has also taken a strong stand in India recently after the success of Indian shooters in the Paris Olympics. The clubs have seen a rise in memberships while ranges in several cities have also witnessed a spike in people trying for the fun of it. </p>.<p>The pressing issue, however, is to make the sport television-friendly and attract new audiences from outside of the community. </p>.<p>"We are thrilled and excited to herald any reforms, innovations and technology that ISSF believes we need to bring into the sport. That can be experimented and brought into the league on a pilot basis, without affecting the Olympic sport as a whole," NRAI President Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo said.</p>.<p>"While the traditional form of sport is important for us, we will try and keep it in the purest form as possible, but we also understand the pressures and pulls of the current market of audiences and plan to bring as much excitement, thereby trying to increase the number of spectators."</p>.<p>The SLI auctions are set to be held in late August or early September and the tournament is scheduled to get underway from November. </p>.<p>India is also turning out to be an Asian and global shooting hub with the ISSF granting the World Cup in 2027 and the Junior World Championship in 2028. The 2026 Asian Cup is also scheduled to be held in India.</p>.<p>As the sport continues to find its way through in India, these are truly exciting times for shooters and shooting fans in the country.</p>