Bangladesh shooters will begin their journey to earn a quota place for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics when they take part in next month’s ISSF World Cup in New Delhi, India.
The training camp begins at Bangladesh Shooting Federation tomorrow with the reporting of 15 shooters the previous day.
The New Delhi World Cup is scheduled to be held from February 20 to 28.
Commonwealth Games silver medalists Abdullah Hel Baki and Shakil Ahmed are likely to participate in four shooting World Cups this year with each designated as Olympics Qualification competition.
Shakil, who earned the country its first Commonwealth Games silver in the pistol event after 28 years, will be trying his luck for an Olympics quota place for the first time.
The Delhi World Cup, however, is not new to Shakil as he finished 12th with a score of 572 in the 10m air pistol event last year.
“This will be my first time competing for the Olympics quota place, so it will be tough in Delhi. I will try my best and the target will be to improve my score and qualify for Olympics.”
Shakil said it is not decided as to how many shooters will get quota place from next month.
There will be three more pistol/shooting World Cups in April (Beijing), May (Munich) and Rio de Janeiro (August-September).
The national pistol shooters will train under South Korean coach Young Kim while Danish rifle coach Klavs Christensen’s replacement is not confirmed yet.