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The excitement in the atmosphere was palpable as the VIII Commonwealth Shooting Federation Championship was inaugurated at the renovated state-of-the-art Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi today.

Present on the occasion were Mr. Suresh Kalmadi, MP & Chairman, Organising Committee Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi, Mrs. Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister of Delhi, Mr. Mike Hooper, CEO, Commonwealth Federation, Mr. Graeme Hudson, President, Commonwealth Shooting Federation among others.

163 shooters from 12 countries (including 43 from India) are expected to compete in the championship. Shotgun marksmen Adam Vella and Russell Mark of Australia apart from pistol exponents Michael Gault and Nick Baxter of England will be some of the leading shooters who will participate. The Indian contingent will include Samaresh Jung, Gagan Narang, Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Tejaswini Sawant, Lajja Gauswami among others. Apart from India, Australia (25), England (22) and Wales (21), Scotland (13), Bangladesh (11), Gibraltar (8), Northern Ireland (8), Sri Lanka (5), New Zealand (5), Kenya (1) and South Africa (1) are the other countries scheduled to compete.

Suresh Kalmadi, Chairman, Organising Committee Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi welcomed international shooters to India and all shooters to the championship. Conveying his message loudly and clearly to everyone, Mr. Kalmadi said that, "Let there be no doubt in anybody's mind that all Games-related infrastructure will be world-class and will also be ready much ahead of the Commonwealth Games to be held in October."

Mr. Kalmadi thanked all teams from Australia, England, New Zealand etc. to have sent their teams for this championship. Referring to the elaborate security arrangements made for the shooting championship, Mr. Kalmadi assured everyone that all major sporting events in the country that are scheduled this year, would be incident-free and the government would ensure the best possible security arrangements.

Declaring the VIII Commonwealth Shooting Federation Championship open, Mrs. Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister of Delhi welcomed everyone to the championship and wished them a great stay in Delhi. Expressing satisfaction and happiness at the world-class infrastructure of the renovated Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range Mrs. Dikshit said that, "Seeing the preparations at the Range I am assured that - We can do it and We shall do it!"

The inauguration ceremony witnessed an enthralling mass band display organized by the Ministry of Defence. Some of the participating bands were the Territorial Army Pipe Bands - 13 Jalki Light Infantry, 21 Sikh, 5 Sikh Li Light Infantry, 17 Guard and the Navy & Air Force Bands. They played some heart-stirring tunes like Abide With Me - one of Gandhiji's favourites, Abhinandan, Dhola Re Dhola, Pipers Cave, etc. There was also a brief demo of Sports Casualty Management.

Mr. Graeme Hudson, President, Commonwealth Shooting Federation lauded all organizers for their efforts to put in place a state-of-the-art shooting range in a short time. He re-iterated that the shooting range will be prepared to host the best-ever Commonwealth Games in October.

India's ace shooter Samaresh Jung led the Competitors Oath Ceremony on behalf of all participants.