SAI approves camp worth Rs 1.43 crore for Olympic-bound shooters

The camp will comprise 32 shooters (18 men and 14 women), eight Indian coaches, three foreign coaches and two support staff.

Anjum Moudgil was the first Indian athlete to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

A two-month coaching camp for the Olympic core group shooters will be held at Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi from October 15 to December 14.

The camp will comprise 32 shooters (18 men and 14 women), eight Indian coaches, three foreign coaches and two support staff. All 15 Olympic quota winners will be a part of the camp, the budget of which stands at Rs. 1.43 crore.

Sports Authority of India in a statement said, “It is imperative to have a camp because it is an integral part of the preparation for an event like the Olympics. The camp will be conducted following the SAI SOP.”

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Rifle shooter Anjum Moudgil, a silver medalist at the 2018 World Championships which earned her a Tokyo Olympic quota is happy to return to training. “It is very good that SAI and NRAI have decided to hold this camp which will give us much needed practice with just 10 months to go for the Olympics. Regular shooting in a camp environment will give us a better idea of where we currently stand.”

The shooters have been practicing at their home ranges during the coronavirus pandemic and this will be the first full-fledged camp for the Olympic core group since the lockdown was announced.

Divyansh Singh Panwar, the world number one in men’s 10m air-rifle, said, “Though I have been training right through the lockdown, training in a camp with all the fellow shooters will be much better preparation with the national coaches monitoring our progress’’.

India have won a record 15 quotas in shooting for the Tokyo Olympics and can still obtain quotas on the basis of world rankings