No physio, India shooters cry foul
PALEMBANG: There is a strong undercurrent of discontent in the 28-member Indian shooting contingent over the absence of a physiotherapist, who, according to players and coaches, is a basic requirement.
The contingent has four Indian coaches --- Jaspal Rana, Ronak Pandit, Suma Shirur and Mansher. Four foreign coaches --Marcelo Dradi, Mikhailov Oleg, Falco Ennio and Smirnov Pavel --- too have travelled here. The presence of eight coaches has not left any slot for a physiotherapist or manager as only eight accreditations were given by the Indonesian Asian Games Organising Committee (INAGSOC) for support staff.
Ronak Pandit, the coach of the pistol team, who is doubling as manager, asked: “Why does India need so many foreign coaches now? There was a time when they were a necessity. But now, many Indian shooters who have quit, or are on the verge of quitting, are better equipped to train those coming through the junior training programme of the National Rifle Association of India.”
While Jaspal’s wards Manu Bhaker, Saurabh Chaudhary and Anish Bhanwala, have dazzled in the pistol arena around the world, Mansher’s band of young shotgun shooters, among them Lakshay Sheoran, have made a splash at the Games.
“The foreign coaches are blocking four slots which should ideally have gone to physios, masseurs, perhaps a dietician and a manager,” said another male Indian coach, who has more than two decades of experience in the sport, on condition of anonymity.
Jaspal, a four-time Asian Games gold-medallist was equally scathing. “Shooting is our passion and we are passing our experience to the youngsters. When you look at their (foreign coaches’) salaries, we get a pittance. It took six years of the junior training programme to bring the kids to this level; what role have they (the foreign coaches) played? They are all coaching seniors,” he said.
DUAL ROLE
All Indian coaches are doubling as managers. “We have two deputy chefs de mission in Palembang --- Balbir Singh Kushwaha and Col Satyawrat Sheoran --who we see only during the medals ceremony,” said the coach. Three physios from the Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) ---- Alap Jawadekar, Zeinia Samar and Jay Yadav -- stay outside the Jakabaring Complex and come every morning on guest passes.