India to host ISSF Junior World Cup 2025 shooting

India will host the ISSF Junior World Cup 2025, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), the governing body of sports shooting in the country, announced on Saturday.

Next year’s ISSF Junior World Cup will see competitions held across all three disciplines - rifle, pistol and shotgun. Both Olympic and non-Olympic events are part of Junior World Cups.

The exact dates and host city of the tournament are yet to be finalised.

"The ISSF in their letter have requested us to confirm two possible convenient slots, one in September-October and the other during the end of October-beginning November period,” NRAI secretary-general Sultan Singh said.

“We will after meeting internally share the same with them at the earliest so that member federations can prepare accordingly,” Singh added.

Started in 2016 by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF), the Junior World Cups are one of the premier annual shooting competitions in the world for U-21 athletes along with the world championships.

The upcoming edition, set to be the 11th junior shooting World Cup, will mark the first time that India will be hosting the competition.

However, this will be the country's third top-tier ISSF event within a span of three years. Bhopal hosted the senior ISSF World Cup in 2023 and New Delhi staged the season-ending 2024 World Cup Final earlier this year.

Overall, the 2025 ISSF Junior World Cup will be the ninth top-level shooting championship to be held in India over the past decade.

India have hosted two continental championships and six ISSF competitions, including two World Cup Final competitions and four senior ISSF World Cups.