John Rizzo, of Bugibba, writes:

On July 17, 1907, almost one hundred years ago to the date, the delegates of seven nations - Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Greece, France, Italy and the Netherlands, founded the International Union of National Shooting Federations and Associations in Zurich, Switzerland.

The founder president was Daniel Merillon who adopted a preliminary constitution and competition rules.

The Malta Shooting Club was formed on July 11, 1908 with the first president being Colonel John Lewis Francia. Alfred Sant Manduca was the club's first secretary.

The International Shooting Union, commonly known as UIT, is now known as ISSF - International Sports Shooting Federation - and comprises no fewer than 158 national member federations in 145 countries, including Malta. The Maltese federation became a member in 1959 along with Turkey, in time to participate in the Mediterranean Games held in Beirut.

Today, the ISSF is the governing body of four shooting disciplines - pistol, rifle, running target and shotgun. These disciplines include 15 Olympic and 23 World Championship events.

After 100 years of activity, a small organisation with very humble beginnings has grown to rule an Olympic sport which is one of the largest and most popular in the world.

On the other hand, the original Malta Shooting Club changed its name to Malta Shooting Federation, now situated in Bidnija after moving to the location in 1977 from its previous base in Attard.

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