The 2nd USIP World Police Service Pistol Shooting Championship officially kicked off on November 14th at Guangdong’s Police Training Center. A total of 256 police men and women from 73 countries and regions are set to compete for the title of sharpshooter over the next five days.

This is the first time that the Chinese public security authority has hosted the championship.

Chinese competitor shooting a target. (Photo: Steven Yuen)

At the opening ceremony, Huang Xiaohong, Executive Vice Minister of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security stated that such a large-scale police sport event is an important platform for countries and regions to strengthen cooperation in police affairs and enhance law enforcement capacity.

Opening ceremony of the 2nd USIP World Police Service Pistol Shooting Championship

Sheikh Al-Sabah, the USIP president hoped that the competition can be a bridge for international cooperation in police affairs. Moreover, police from all over the world can make friends with each other through this competition.

10 scenarios have been set up to comprehensively test the abilities and qualities of contestants’ shooting skills, tactical application, on-the-spot responses and psychological pressure under simulated real conditions.

Player from Bulgaria shooting a target in the simulated metro station. (Photo: Steven Yuen)

“This is our first visit to China and Guangdong Province,” the Colombian contestants said before adding, “The tournament is so exciting and people in Guangdong is really friendly.”

“The facilities are fantastic, as well as the services provided by the volunteers,” said an Australian competitor. “Our main goal for the game is having fun and making more friends during the competition.”

Players from Oman watching the competition. (Photo: Steven Yuen)

More than 30 countries and regions have come on the stage on the first day, including to China, France, Hungary and Czech Republic.

Chinese player waiting for the game. (Photo: Steven Yuen)

As of November 14th Belarus topped the leaderboard.

According to Alain Joly, Vice President of the International Practical Shooting Confederation, in an attempt to ensure fairness and transparency, Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department has developed a set of intelligent management systems allowing players to obtain real-time match result and rankings.

Screen in the venue showing the real-time match results and ranking. (Photo: Steven Yuen)

The competition features 5 awards, including Men’s Individual, Women’s Individual, Men’s Team, Women’s Team and Overall Team. Furthermore, the top eight in each category will be awarded.

As a regular event organized by the USIP, the shooting championship is held to promote practical training with firearms so as to increase the effectiveness of police when needing to use guns.

The World Police Service Pistol Shooting Championship was first held in Hungary in 2015, at which time Team 1 and Team 2 from Shenzhen’s Public Security Bureau took both first and second places on behalf of the Chinese delegation.

 

Author: Steven Yuen

Editor: Simon Haywood