March 27: The Shooting Association of Meghalaya (SAM) attended the 1st Zaua Memorial North East Championship held at Aizawl, Mizoram from the 18th to 24th March 2013, sponsored by the North Eastern Council. The Meghalaya team attended the Championship with only one shooter in the .22 open sight pistol (25 meter) and .177 pistol (10 meter) which was represented by Mr. John Thounaojam of Upper Chandmari, Tura in both the categories. He bagged the silver medal in the .177 pistol 10 meter and stood 4th in the .22 open sight 25 meter. The Championship had a total attendance of 198 shooters.
The closing ceremony was attended by the Chief Guest, the Chief Minister of Mizoram Mr. Lathanahaula and President of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) Mr. Raninder Singh as the guest of Honor. In his speech the National President was full of praises for the shooters from the various North Eastern States, where he repeatedly mention that some of the scores achieved during the just concluded championship were at par with national shooting teams and that he expected shooters from the North East to be part of the national shooting team. In his speech he also mentioned that the Sports Authority of India has allotted 70 % of its funds to the National Rifle Association of India.
The Meghalayan, even without proper training facilities managed to bag the Silver with a score of 365. It may be recalled that the Shooting Association of Meghalaya (SAM) was recently formed in September 2013, and was subsequently accorded affiliation by the NRAI, and are awaiting affiliation from the MSOA.
The Meghalaya team was led by its Vice President Mr. Bobby Wahlang (Team manager) and its Gen Secy Mr. N. Sootinck.(SP News)
