Slovenia is set to host the first international shooting sport event of the year, with the ISSF Grand Prix scheduled to take place in Ruse from January 7 to 12.
A total of 142 athletes from 20 countries are entered for competition across senior and junior age categories.
Athletes will be competing in rifle and pistol disciplines from January 9 (Thursday) following training sessions and the event's technical meeting, with all competition held over four days.
There are 12 gold medals to be won across six senior and six junior events consisting of 10m competitions for men, women and mixed teams in both rifle and pistol.
Croatian Miran Maricic is expected to compete in the men's and mixed team air rifle events, following his bronze medal in the individual event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, alongside his teammate Petar Gorsa, who was sixth in said final.
Damir Mikec, the air pistol mixed team Olympic champion, represents Serbia in the men's 10m air pistol event, while other notable name in the field is Juraj Tuzinsky from Slovakia.
Meanwhile, Poland's hopes may lie with Julia Piotrowska, who is competing in the women's and mixed team air rifle, after performing well in Chateauroux too.
Hosts Slovenia have the largest squad in Ruse, with 32 entrants. Ziva Dvorsak, who finished 11th in the women's 10m air rifle event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, one of the contenders for the medals.
Rising stars including Anna Dulce from Moldova, who performed well on the ISSF World Cup circuit in 2024, are competing in junior events.
Qualification events are to take place at the Sportno drustvo Ruse, with finals hosted at Strelsko drustvo I. pohorski bataljon Ruse.
Competition will be available on the ISSF YouTube channel.