Pune, 29 October: The shotgun events of the 41st Maharashtra State Shooting Championship 2026 will be held from 30 October to 4 November at the Shotgun Shooting Range, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Krida Sankul, Balewadi, Mahalunge, Pune.
The championship is organised by the Maharashtra Rifle Association and conducted by the Pune Shooting Sports Association. It has 62 entries across Trap and Skeet, with shooters from Pune, Kolhapur, Mumbai, Raigad, Palghar, Solapur and other districts.
Trap draws most shooters
Trap has 58 of the 62 entries, spread across men’s, women’s, junior, youth, masters and senior masters categories:
- Men: 24
- Youth men: 8
- Junior men: 7
- Masters men: 7
- Women: 6
- Junior women: 3
- Youth women: 2
- Senior masters men: 1
Skeet, also an Olympic shotgun discipline, has four entries.
No Double Trap this year
There is no Double Trap competition at this year’s championship. The event has been dropped from the International Shooting Sport Federation programme, and neither the National Rifle Association of India nor the Maharashtra Rifle Association now runs it.
Double Trap became popular in India after Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won Olympic silver in the event at Athens 2004.
Six days on one range
The championship runs for six days mainly because the sports complex has only one shotgun range. The longer schedule lets the organisers fit in all the categories at the same facility.
Route to the nationals
Scores from Pune will be used to pick Maharashtra’s teams for the upcoming Shotgun National Championships in Delhi. That gives both experienced shooters and junior and youth athletes a chance to show their form before the national event.
