Indian shooters leave for camp in Croatia

THE 26 MEMBER CONTINGENT HAS EIGHT RIFLE AND FIVE PISTOL SHOOTERS, SEVEN COACHES AND SIX SUPPORT STAFF MEMBERS

NEW DELHI: India’s shooting contingent, the country’s top medal prospects for the Tokyo Olympics, flew out of the country to Zagreb, Croatia, on board a chartered flight on Tuesday for their final stretch of preparation for the Games. The shooters will head straight to Tokyo for the Olympics scheduled, beginning July 23, from Zagreb.

With the country under the grasp of a deadly second wave of Covid-19, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) and the Sports Authority of India charted out a quick exit for the shooters to allow them a long training stint—they will spend 80 days in the camp in Croatia— in a relatively safe environment. During this time, they will also participate in two competitions, including an ISSF World Cup. They were given a day’s notice on May 3 to assemble in New Delhi and go through a sevenday quarantine.

The 26 member contingent has eight rifle and five pistol shooters, seven coaches and six support staff members.

The shooters will train alongside the Croatian national team.

The shooters will travel to Osijek, a three-hour drive from Zagreb, to take part in the European Championships as special invitees in the Minimum Qualification Score (MQS) section from May 20-June 6 (they will not be eligible for medals). As their final tune-up for the Olympics, they will compete in the ISSF World Cup in Osijek from June 22-July 3.

The ISSF rescheduled the second World Cup–after Baku refused to host it due to sudden increase in Covid cases there—in Croatia only last week and NRAI’s plans seemed to have perfectly fallen in place.

Since the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi which concluded on March 29, NRAI has been brainstorming with coaches for the final phase of preparation. Several plans, including a bio-bubble camp in Delhi, were drawn up, but with the situation rapidly deteriorating in India, were shelved.

Following the Delhi World Cup, four Indian shooters were also infected—Saurabh Chaudhary, Deepak Kumar, Rahi Sarnobat and Apurvi Chandela–and it was thought that it’s better to move the squad out of India.

“We were planning to come back (to India) and go to the Baku World Cup in June. But then it got cancelled and the scenario in India was changing rapidly in the last one month with rise in Covid cases, new variants being reported and various places going under lockdown. No bio bubble can be safe here right now. It was felt that the best would be to train abroad at a much safer place and avoid exposure to the virus” said rifle coach Suma Shirur.

Some of the coaches disagreed with the move to hold such a long camp away from home; three pistol coaches— Samresh Jung, Ronak Pandit and Jaspal Rana—have pulled out from the tour. World No 1 rifle shooter Elavenil Valarivan’s coach Neha Chavan has also pulled out due to a crisis in the family.

“In these circumstances we can’t justify what is right and wrong. Situation is not easy at all. Personally, it was a tough decision for me as well,” said Shirur. “Olympics is not just about two months, it’s four years of preparation and for some, it’s a lifetime of effort.”

The squad was vaccinated during their stay in New Delhi on May 6 and will get their second shot in Zagreb. Enough ammunition has been packed to last till the Olympics. In Zagreb, the squad will be in a quarantine for seven days.