April 25, 2008	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 18, 1429

KARACHI, April 24: The National Rifle Association of Pakistan (NRAP) got a big boost on Thursday when Pakistan’s class shooter Muhammad Siddique from Pakistan Army earned a wild-card entry for the Beijing Olympics.

While talking to reporters, Razi Ahmed Khan, NRAP’s executive vice president, said that the International Sports Shooting Federation (ISSF) accepted the wild-card allowing Siddique to feature in the Olympic Games to be held in China from August 8.

Siddique, who has the honour of creating a national record in the three-position air rifle event by mustering 1,154 out of 1,200 points during the last national championship, is being hailed as a good future international prospect for the country.

The NRAP official said also said that they were persuading ISSF for a wild-card in the skeet shotgun event as well.

A six-member Pakistan squad will be flying to Frankfurt shortly for a two-month training programme in pistol and rifle in order to enhance their skill for the upcoming Commonwealth Games, SAF Games as well as the other upcoming international assignments.

The trip and the extensive training programme, estimated to cost around rupees three million, is being funded by the Pakistan Sports Trust (PST) and will have the German Shooting Federation providing the training facilities, shooting ranges, boarding and lodging during the Pakistan shooters stay in the country.—Agencies