Ranchi: Yet another state level championships began at the crumbling Tikait Umrao Shooting Range at the mega sports complex at Hotwar on Friday with the state rifle association, like earlier years, having to spend its own resources to get the venue in shape.

President of the association A.K. Sen said they have spent over Rs 50,000 to replace defunct shooting boards in the 10m and 50m ranges.

"We have replaced all defunct boards in the 10m range by spending around Rs 30,000. In the 50m range, many electronic boards are out of order. So, we got manual boards to Ranchi from other venues. We spent another Rs 20,000 on transportation," he said.

General secretary of Jharkhand State Rifle Association Uttam Chand said it was extremely difficult to hold any state or national meet as the range, built in 2010 in the run-up to the 2011 National Games held in Jharkhand, was in terrible state.

"It is up the state government to take care of it. We don't have any other place to conduct tournaments. Given its present condition, it is difficult to host any tournament as almost all the ranges are in bad condition, which naturally affects performance," he said, adding that in the past too, the association had spent its own funds on the shooting range.

Sources said air-conditioning at the Tikait Umrao Shooting Range was not functioning properly. "Termites have ruined most of the shooting boards. Shrubs and weed are growing all over the place," said an association member, adding that in the interest of the sport the association did what it could to ensure the 9th Jharkhand State Rifle Shooting Championship-2018 could be held there.

As many as 400 participants between 12 and 70 had come in from various districts to take part in the three-day tournament.

"The meet will have 45 events in various categories such as 10m, 25m and 50m shooting," said Chand. Those who get qualifying scores would proceed to the east zone meet to be held at Asansol in Bengal to be held in the last week of August.

The mega sports complex, of which the shooting range is apart, is managed and run by Jharkhand State Sports Promotion Society (JSSPS), a joint venture between the state government and Central Coalfields (CCL).

CEO of JSSPS's local management committee Alok Kumar said they were preparing estimates to repair and renovate the stadiums. "Work is likely to begin after the rains," he told this correspondent.