Shooting to have its own franchise league in India from next year

It’s now time for shooting, which accounted for half of India’s six medals at the Paris Olympics, to host its first-ever franchise league, to be called Shooting League of India (SLI). A proposal mooted by National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) president Kalikesh Narayana Singh Deo has received the nod from their governing body.

A window for the league is being chalked out as it will need a go ahead from the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF), the sport’s global authority, and the first edition likely to be held in March next year.

Speaking on the development, Singh Deo said in a press release: “Shooting, particularly after the performance in the recent Paris Olympics has received a huge fillip in its popularity and we thought that this was the right moment to launch a league. We have seen how well organised franchise leagues have not only helped in popularising the sport even further, but most importantly have brought in new audience and revenue for them and their athletes. We owe it to our athletes to make the sport self-sustainable.”

“Shooting in its purest Olympic form and format is not considered television-friendly. However, we have all deliberated upon it extensively and feel that we may have arrived at a winning formula. Let’s keep our fingers crossed as all is in the interest of the sport and its super athletes, who have brought glory to the country on global platforms consistently over the last few decades.” he added.

Abhinav Bindra gave India its first-ever individual Olympics gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, while it was Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore who shot to India’s first-ever shooting medal in the Games — a silver in Athens 2004. This year, Manu Bhaker grabbed the limelight by becoming the first Indian athlete to win more than one medal at a single Olympics with two bronze medals, while Swapnil Kusale secured the third bronze for India.

While it’s still early days to speak about the format, NRAI secretary-general K. Sultan Singh said: “We want all 15 Olympic events as part of the SLI, but we will try to innovate and tweak some formats so as to make them more exciting to watch on telecast or livestream. We also want to have unique ownership and team composition, which will help in bringing in newer audiences and sponsors to the sport. More details will be shared soon.”