The National Rifle Association of India on Tuesday said it has convinced all shooters to compete in the upcoming World Cup in Munich and announced a 23-member squad, affirming that a mechanism will be worked out to ensure athletes are not deprived of guidance from personal coaches during competitions.
Several shooters had written to NRAI requesting it to exempt them from the ISSF World Cup (pistol-rifle) from May 31-June 6 as they needed time to recover from the nearly month-long gruelling Olympic Selection Trials in New Delhi and Bhopal in April-May.
NRAI officials and shooters, who had competed in OST, met at the Karni Singh Range here where the federation impressed upon them the importance of the World Cup with just two months to go for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
“We had a word with the shooters (and) all the shooters have chosen to go. However, we have given them very flexible requirements, because they’ve had a series of Olympic trials of late,” said NRAI senior vice-president Kalikesh Singh Deo.
“We’ve allowed them to choose the events they want to participate in and the manner in which they want to participate. So, if they want to shoot the finals, they shoot the finals, or just shoot RPO (Ranking Points Only) and be in the environment, they (can) do so,” added Singh Deo.
While scores in World Championships, World Cups and Asian Championships help them earn ranking points, Singh Deo said there would be no such pressure on them as no points would be awarded for the Munich event.
“The scores are not being counted for the national rankings, so there is no pressure on them, or their performances. The reason we are keen for them to go is that the last international competition we had was on March 8 in Baku (World Cup) and the one after this is going to be the Olympics,” said Singh Deo.
“There is no international competition of this nature and stature which is available in these six months from Baku to the Olympics. We are keen everybody attends. We are aware of the fact that some shooters may not want to take it in a very competitive manner but we still feel they should have the experience of the environment. So, we have allowed flexibility in the manner in which they participate,” he said.
Personal coaches
Personal coaches have become a bone of contention between the NRAI and shooters, with the former issuing a standard operating procedure (SOP), causing a lot of heartburn among personal coaches.
However, going forward, NRAI said it will take their help provided they follow the SOP. Several Olympic-bound shooters, including pistol exponent Manu Bhaker (coach Jaspal Rana), train with personal coaches, which has occasionally led to a war of words.
“As a rule and as a policy, we had a year ago decided that personal coaches remain an integral part of the shooters and their performances. I have personally instituted the mechanism whereby personal coaches get recognised by NRAI,” Singh Deo said.
“Going forward the direction is very clear that a common minimum training programme will be worked out between the shooter, the personal coach, the national coach, and the HPD (High-Performance Director). It is important that the personal coaches attend and can keep track and support the shooters,” he said.
“However, it is also important that national coaches and the sports science team are aware of the training that the shooter is getting both in camp and off camp,” added Singh Deo.
Personal coaches will be allowed to travel with their wards from the Munich World Cup onwards.
“Personal coaches are allowed to go to all camps in the paradigm of the SOP. It starts with this World Cup going forward. The provision was there earlier also, but it wasn’t being pushed and followed to the extent that I would have liked to. But going forward we will drive it through,” he concluded.
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