Gabala hosted the opening ceremony of tournament of the II International Grand Prix in Olympic shooting.

On May 16 at the Congress Center of Heydar Aliyev in Gabala city, the official opening ceremony of the competitions of the II International Grand Prix in Olympic shooting was held dedicated to the memory of the great leader Heydar Aliyev.
Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Ismail Ismailov, president of "Gabala" Sports Club Taleh Heydarov, vice-president of the Shooting Federation Hafiz Jafarov, in their speeches spoke about the state care exhibited by the development of sports in our country, achieved successes in this area, meaning of the international tournament on shooting in memory of genius person Heydar Aliyev. It was noted that in accordance with the schedule of the International Shooting Sport Federation, this competition after the European and the world championship is one of the most important and is the second international tournament on shooting, organized in our country.
It was reported that the tournament, the total prize fund of which is 96,500 USD, will be attended by about 150 athletes from 17 countries, including the USA, Australia, Great Britain, Belarus, the United Arab Emirates, Finland, Georgia, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Cyprus, Kuwait, Qatar, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. In this international competition, Azerbaijan will be represented by Olympic champion Zemfira Meftahetdinova, member of the Executive Committee of the Shooting Sport Federation, Technical Manager of "Gabala" shooting club and multiple champion of Azerbaijan Emin Jafarov, the vice-president of the "Gabala" Sports Club and multiple national champion Elvin Ismayilov, World Cup finalist, a representative of "Gabala" shooting club Nurlana Jafarova, of famous shooters - Pasha Ahadpur, Khanhuseyn Baghirov, Elchin Babayev, Alina Rafigkhanova, Niaz Aghazadeh, Alimirza Guliyev, Ali Huseynli.  
The opening ceremony presented a concert program with participation of well-known masters of arts of Azerbaijan.
With organizational support of Azerbaijan Shooting Federation and "Gabala" Shooting Club, and with support of the National Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the competition to be held in the Complex of Trap Shooting and Archery will end on May 24.