After experimenting with directives, ISSF reinstates the Tokyo Olympics old-golden rule book for Paris 2024 – Free Press Journal

Amidst the Indian shooters performing in national ranking trials in Bhopal and preparing for upcoming big-ticket tournaments like the Olympics, the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) has once again changed the rules and regulations.

The Olympic qualification season for shooting in Paris 2024 has well and truly started, with some quotas already distributed for the Games next year in France. Nonetheless, the ISSF, the sport's governing body, has opted to experiment with the tournament format once more.

The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) has reverted to the previous competition structure for the finals, abandoning the one-on-one combat for the gold medal introduced last year. The approach used at the Tokyo Olympics is being reintroduced and will be utilised at the World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, next month.

The ISSF has now scrapped the format with an additional stage in the finals that pitted the two top scorers for gold medals at World Cups and other prominent events, including the Olympics, and reverted to the old format.

After the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, the ISSF incorporated an additional stage to the finals to determine the champion in pistol and rifle shooting. But now, it has returned to the original elimination system, with the highest scorer receiving the gold medal. The top two will no longer compete for the gold medal separately.

The modification will be implemented beginning with the ISSF Pistol/Rifle World Cup in Baku (May 815) and will continue through the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

This system was in force until the recently concluded ISSF Pistol and Rifle World Cup in Bhopal. The ISSF has made no changes to the qualification phase, in which the top eight scorers advance to the finals.

The ISSF has streamlined the scoring system while also making it easier for viewers to follow the proceedings by modifying the structure for the finals. According to the most recent arrangement, the finals will consist of two series of five match shots for each of the eight finalists.

Shooters and coaches have welcomed the revisions, believing that the former final format rewarded steady shooters while also being interesting for viewers. & quot ;We are shooters, not cricketers; we are used to empty galleries, New rules or old rules, shooters will do what they are there for: shoot."

National rifle coach Joydeep Karmakar said: "In the last couple of years, there have been many changes, but the shooters believe that all we need to do is shoot well. Ill rifle wont change to pistol. We will remain stoic. Theres no major statistical change. We are immune to changes in the rules."

When asked if the changes were applaudable and if spectators would like them, Olympian Karmakar said: "We cant bother about the applause." All we shooters want is to stay focused and perform well. We are not on the spectators bench to understand if it is applaudable for the spectators; we are shooting in the lane. We shooters are not cricketers; we are used to having empty galleries.

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After experimenting with directives, ISSF reinstates the Tokyo Olympics old-golden rule book for Paris 2024 - Free Press Journal