NDTV Correspondent
Thursday, April 7, 2005 (New Delhi):

India has finally got its first ever website for shooting - indianshooting.com. Lt Col Rajyavardhan Rathore's silver medal at Athens contributed enormously to the popularity of shooting in India, and Tuesday's launch of the country's first website dedicated to shooting is further proof of that.

Boost to shooting
Rathore feels that the information on the website is of tremendous use to young shooters and it can only help India improve on their performance at the Beijing Olympics.

"As this website becomes popular, it will help to establish shooters. There will be articles written by the top shooters and it will really help those who are interested in taking up the sport of shooting," said Lt Col Rajyavardhan Rathore, Silver Medalist, Athens Olympics. The website has profiles on former and current shooters, tips, an event guide and even competition forms for those who don't know where to get them from.

Looking for sponsors
Those responsible for the website say their first task is to ensure the success of their venture, and that means getting an all-important sponsor. "This is the first website dedicated to shooting in India. I was motivated to launch the website by Rathore's silver and the international performances of other Indian shooters. This website will be good for beginners as it will answer all their questions," said Shimon Sharif, Founder, Indianshooting.com.

India's shooters have already begun 2005 with a bang, winning 12 medals at the Commonwealth Shooting Championships in Melbourne last month. Many of them will now be participating at the shooting World Cup in Korea later this month. The ultimate aim through all this competition will be a berth for the Beijing Olympics in 2008, all of which will be documented by Indianshooting.com.

Website on Indian shooting launched

Source: IANS.

Image Source: Indianshooting.com

MSN Sports

New Delhi, April 6: India's first website on shooting -- www.indianshooting.com -- was launched by Olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore here Tuesday.

Promoted by ace shooter Shimon Sharif, the website is aimed at promoting shooting and popularising the sport among the public, according to a statement from Sharif.

The website will provide advice to beginners, including comprehensive information on rules of the sport, qualifying scores, equipment, events, venues, and basic knowledge that anyone interested in shooting would want to pick up.

Apart from facts, the website will provide a platform for upcoming amateurs to interact with professionals, who will answer queries and talk about their experiences in top competitions.

Rathore launches shooting website - Yahoo! India News

By Indo-Asian News Service

New Delhi, April 5 (IANS) India's first website on shooting -- www.indianshooting.com -- was launched by Olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore here Tuesday.

Promoted by ace shooter Shimon Sharif, the website is aimed at promoting shooting and popularising the sport among the public, according to a statement from Sharif.

The website will provide advice to beginners, including comprehensive information on rules of the sport, qualifying scores, equipment, events, venues, and basic knowledge that anyone interested in shooting would want to pick up.

Apart from facts, the website will provide a platform for upcoming amateurs to interact with professionals, who will answer queries and talk about their experiences in top competitions.

The portal, which displays a countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, will serve as a meeting ground for professionals, beginners, enthusiasts, the media and anyone interested in the precision sport.

It will have a media section where detailed information can be gathered, apart from enabling shooters to post their own personal press notes.

Shooting website launched- Times of India

TIMES NEWS NETWORK WEDNESDAY, APRIL 06, 2005

NEW DELHI: Olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has suggested that the National Rifle Association of India to have a TV crew accompany Indian shooters to competitions abroad so as to give them more visibility. He told a gathering after launching a website — indianshooting.com that TV clippings could be aired on the telly which would make the sport popular. "Such a step will give more visibility to the sport and our shooters. Teams like Italy and Sweden have camera crews accompanying them to international events," he said.

"Now there are lot of myths surrounding the sport — like it belongs to a certain class of society. Such misconceptions can be changed," he added. Baljit Singh Sethi, NRAI secretary general, said he will consider Rathore’s suggestions.

Rathore said the launching of the website was a positive step towards making shooting popular. He added that the future of Indian shooting was bright. He also challenged other disciplines to do better than shooting at the Olympics.

Rathore seeks 'visibility' for local shooters

-The Economic Times

TIMES NEWS NETWORK WEDNESDAY, APRIL 06, 2005

NEW DELHI: Olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore on Tuesday called for more visibility of Indian shooters in international shooting events to take the sport to the masses.

Giving the example of cricket, Rathore suggested it could be achieved by having camera crews at various competitions abroad. “Teams like Italy and Sweden have their own camera crews accompanying their teams at international competitions. The footage thus produced is provided to television channels for live or deferred telecast,” Rathore said inaugurating the country’s first dedicated website for shooting, indianshooting.com.

“More visibility to the shooters will bring in more sponsorship,” he said requesting the National Rifle Association of India to look into the issue. NRAI secretary general Baljit Singh Sethi was receptive to the idea and said the federation would consider the suggestion.
Praising the new venture, Rathore said such efforts will go a long way in helping more people take up the sport. “There are many myths about shooting like it is very expensive, it needs lot of space and is only for a select class of the society. This is the first step to make shooting more popular and reach out to more people,” he said lauding the site launched by Shimon Sharif. “I rely on the internet very much for all my planning and it has been of immense help,” he said.

There were also concerns that shooting needs a lot of space as a sport, Rathore said. “Now we have a lot of schools converting one of their class rooms into a 10m indoor range. And children are having fun at these ranges,” said Rathore, who was the first Indian to win a silver medal in the Olympics.

“It is a fantastic sport which can be enjoyed by the 10-year-old as well as those who are in their sixties. The future of Indian shooting is great and I can challenge any other sport in India to do better than shooting in the Olympics.

Rathore fires a salvo - The Tribune

New Delhi, April 5

Rathore, while opening the first dedicated website for shooting in the country--indianshooting.com--said if cricket was a popular sport in the country, it was due to the excellent exposure given to the players and the game.

He said the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) should play a more pro-active role to give more visibility to the shooters so as to attract sponsorship for shooting and shooters. Presently, not many shooters can boast of any sponsorship tie-up, barring Rathore himself.

NRAI secretary Baljit Singh Sethi said the association has been doing a lot to promote shooting, but will try its best to make shooting very popular. Rathore said the website was a great idea which will provide instant access to shooting data in the country. He said he was an internet buff and this facility would attract more fans to the sport. (Extracts from the full story).

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