In shooting, athletes win quota places for the country and the federation decides the contingent based on their performance in trials, national and international competitions.
Jaspal Rana has expressed concern over the delay in naming the Indian shooting contingent for the Paris Olympics, saying it would leave little time for the selected athletes to prepare.
Fencers from the United States, Italy and other European powers have announced their teams and their shooters are in the final stages of fine-tuning their skills ahead of the Games which begin July 26. India, meanwhile, began its nearly month-long exercise on Friday.
The top five shooters in the pistol and rifle category will undergo four events – April 19-27 (New Delhi, events 1 and 2) and May 10-19 (Bhopal, events 3 and 4) – and selection for the Olympic Games of Paris will be done afterwards, which leaves little time for the last phase of training.
The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has completed trials in the shotgun shooting events, but is yet to announce its team in the hope that a few more shooters could secure quotas for Paris in the final championship Olympic qualifying round, which began on Friday in Doha.
“We’re not in the same category of training and preparation as other people in the world. They have already selected their teams and started their training and we are behind schedule,” said Padma Shri and Rana, the Arjuna Awardee shooter.
“No one knows so far who is going and who is not. This puts a lot of pressure on the players who have won quota places, while those who have not won the quota places have a lot less pressure,” added the four-time Asian Games gold medalist.
In shooting, athletes win quota places for the country and the federation decides the contingent based on their performance in trials, national and international competitions.
Rana also slammed the ongoing trials at the Karni Singh shooting ranges in Delhi, saying he had never seen a competition where only five shooters per event were shortlisted.
As per ISSF rules, eight shooters qualify for the final in the pistol and rifle events, with the exception of the men’s 25m rapid fire, where six qualify for the medal round.
“Well, I’ve never seen five shooters (competing) in (the final), so I don’t know (what’s going on). I’ve never shot like that in my life. I see five shooters competing for the first time.
“At least three other shooters should have been there. They should have at least supplemented the number of shooters in the final… perhaps by adding three “zero” shooters. They (NRAI) should have considered including zero shooters (to complement ISSF requirements),” he added.
“Zero” shooters are athletes who are not in contention for a medal or quota but who meet the minimum requirements.
“Yes, I will be targeted for saying this, but I think there should have been three additional shooters (as per ISSF requirements). There are a lot of things to complain about, there are a lot of things that can be improved. But everything that is there is there (in front of everyone), and the shooters have to be ready for anything,” he added.
Rana feels that four tries was a bit too much and left little time in between to rest and recover.
In the case of Manu Bhaker and Asian Games gold medalist Esha Singh, they will have to compete in eight events as the duo is in contention in the 10m air pistol and 25m rapid fire event . This puts extra strain on their physical and mental well-being for a month.
“My personal view is that shooters should be ready for anything, but honestly, this is too much. They (the federation) could have used some competition scores (national and international) as trial scores. You (NRAI) have all the options, provided you want to do it,” he said.
When asked if it was the ideal situation for shooters to de-stress, when there are not even two days between tests, he replied: “There is no time ( to de-stress). There is not enough time even between the Delhi and Bhopal trials.
